Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone

Sydney Michelle McLaughlin-Levrone
McLaughlin-Levrone at the 2022 World Athletics Championships
Personal information
Birth nameSydney Michelle McLaughlin
Full nameSydney Michelle McLaughlin-Levrone
Born (1999-08-07) August 7, 1999 (age 25)
New Brunswick, New Jersey, U.S.
Height5 ft 9 in (175 cm)[1]
Weight134 lb (61 kg)[2]
SpouseAndre Levrone Jr.
Sport
CountryUnited States
SportTrack and field
Events
College teamKentucky Wildcats (2017–2018)[3]
Coached by
Achievements and titles
Highest world ranking1 (weeks 75, 400 m hurdles)
Personal bests
  • 100 m: 11.07 w (2018)
  • 200 m: 22.07 (2024)
  • 400 m: 48.74 (2023)
  • 100 mH: 12.65 (2021)
  • 400 mH: 50.37 (2024, WR, OR)
  • Short track
  • 200 m: 22.68 i (2018)
  • 400 m: 50.36 i (2018)
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing the  United States
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2020 Tokyo 400 m hurdles
Gold medal – first place 2020 Tokyo 4×400 m relay
Gold medal – first place 2024 Paris 400 m hurdles
Gold medal – first place 2024 Paris 4×400 m relay
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2019 Doha 4×400 m relay
Gold medal – first place 2022 Eugene 400 m hurdles
Gold medal – first place 2022 Eugene 4×400 m relay
Silver medal – second place 2019 Doha 400 m hurdles
Diamond League
First place 2019 400 m hurdles
World Youth Championships
Gold medal – first place 2015 Cali 400 m hurdles

Sydney Michelle McLaughlin-Levrone (/məˈɡlɒklɪn ləvˈrni/ mə-GLOK-lin ləv-ROH-nee; née McLaughlin; born August 7, 1999)[7] is an American hurdler and sprinter who competes in the 400 meters hurdles and is the world record holder in that event. She has won gold in the 2020 and 2024 Summer Olympics, as well as the 2022 World Athletics Championships. She set a world record time of 50.37 seconds at the 2024 Summer Olympics on August 8, 2024, breaking her own old world record of 50.65 seconds. She is the first track athlete to break four world records in the same event; setting four world records during 13 months, she was the first woman to break the 52-second (June 2021) and 51-second (July 2022) barriers in the 400 m hurdles.[8] She won the silver medal at the 2019 World Championships. At all four competitions, she also took gold as part of a women's 4 × 400 m relay team.

As a 15-year-old, McLaughlin was the 2015 World youth champion. In 2016, she was the youngest athlete since Denean Howard in 1980 to qualify for the U.S. Olympic track team, having placed third at the U.S. Olympic Trials, with the current world under-18 best of 54.15 seconds, then also the world U20 record.[9] She holds the current world U20 record of 53.60 seconds, having achieved a junior personal best of 52.75 s (not ratified), with both marks set in 2018. Aside from McLaughlin-Levrone, only three other women have ever broken the 52 second barrier, and only one other has broken 51. She holds six out of the ten fastest times on the world all-time list. She was the 2019 Diamond League champion.

In 2022, McLaughlin-Levrone was voted World Athletics Female Athlete of the Year.[10]

  1. ^ "Sydney McLaughlin". United States Olympic Committee. Retrieved July 8, 2021.
  2. ^ "Sydney McLaughlin's Age". sportskeeda.com. Sportskeeda. Retrieved September 5, 2024.
  3. ^ "Sydney Mclaughlin Kentucky". Track & Field Results Reporting System (TFRRS). Retrieved January 21, 2020.
  4. ^ Boylan-Pett, Liam (October 24, 2017). "The Track Phenom Who Chose College Over Riches". Bleacher Report. Retrieved October 24, 2017.
  5. ^ Cherry, Gene (January 25, 2019). "Athletics: McLaughlin set to start pro career but not in hurdles". Reuters. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
  6. ^ Schad, Tom; Dragon, Tyler (June 28, 2021). "Sydney McLaughlin breaks world record in 400-meter hurdles to win U.S. Olympic trials". USA Today. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
  7. ^ "MCLAUGHLIN-LEVRONE Sydney". Paris 2024 Olympics. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
  8. ^ Greif, Andrew (August 22, 2022). "After shattering hurdle record, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone considers new challenge: more events". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 22, 2022.
  9. ^ "Sydney McLaughlin Biography, Olympic Medals, and Age". Olympics.com. Retrieved August 4, 2021.
  10. ^ Mulkeen, Jon (December 6, 2022). "From anonymity to award-winner, McLaughlin-Levrone plots future path". World Athletics. Retrieved December 6, 2022.