Rekubit Exchange:Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone dominates 400 hurdles, sets world record again

EUGENE,Rekubit Exchange Ore. — Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone continued her dominance in the women’s 400 hurdles, setting (another) world record Sunday at Hayward Field in the U.S. Olympic track and field trials finale. McLaughlin-Levrone crossed the finish line in 50.65 seconds, then covered her mouth in shock upon seeing her time.

McLaughlin-Levrone's previous world record, also set at Hayward Field, was 50.68, which she ran at the 2022 World Championships. 

"Honestly, praise God, I was not expecting that," McLaughlin-Levrone said on the broadcast after her race. "Anything is possible in Christ. I’m just amazed, baffled and in shock."

Anna Cockrell (52.64) was second and Jasmine Jones (52.77) was third and will join McLaughlin-Levrone in Paris.

Dalilah Muhammad, who won gold in Rio and silver in Tokyo, finished sixth. 

McLaughlin-Levrone is the defending gold medalist in the 400 hurdles, and nearly every time she lines up on the track she sets a new world record. She isn’t just the favorite in Paris but expected to win by a wide margin. 

But she swears that each race she lowers her time, she's genuinely surprised, and grateful.

"I knew I was in 50-point high range, and it was just a matter of getting a stride pattern down," she said. "I knew the fitness was there. I was a little shocked that it came together with not the best stride pattern ... there’s still more we can work on."

That work, and the prospective results, motivate her.

McLaughlin-Levrone dreams of going sub-50 seconds and given her history, it doesn't seem like a stretch.

"It's really exciting, thinking about how to improve upon history," she said. "That's always something I'm looking at."

She called the world record a "confidence booster" going into Paris.

Before the final, McLaughlin-Levrone’s coach, the legendary Bobby Kersee, encouraged her to “not be afraid to take it out, to trust my fitness coming home and just execute my 10 hurdles.” 

“He’s always using boxing phrases,” McLaughlin-Levrone said. “So those were my Joe Frazier’s today, the 10 hurdles, just making sure I was focused on those. There was no time goal.” 

And yes, in this analogy, McLaughlin-Levrone is Muhammad Ali, himself a former Olympian. 

McLaughlin-Levrone will likely be on the 4x400 team as well; she ran the first leg of the relay at the Tokyo Games, leading the Americans to gold. 

Relay team pools are expected to be announced by USATF by July 8. 

McLaughlin-Levrone has flirted with the idea of running the 400 hurdles and 400, but the current Olympic track schedule is not conducive to that. Sometimes it seems that McLaughlin-Levrone could win, or at least contend for a medal, in any of the sprinting events. As of Sunday morning she had the sixth fastest 200 time this season, set Los Angeles in May. 

"I just wanted to focus on one ... and do it to the best of my ability," she said. "That's why we chose the 400 hurdles. Today was a good testament of (doing) that.

"There's still more to come."

Contributing: Tyler Dragon