EUGENE, Ore. — Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, as always it seems, was chasing herself Sunday at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field.
She caught her.
McLaughlin-Levrone broke her own world record, running the 400-meter hurdles in 50.65 seconds — three-hundredths of a second better than her previous mark. It’s her ninth time breaking the world record in the event.
50.65! A NEW WORLD RECORD FOR SYDNEY MCLAUGHLIN-LEVRONE 👏 #TrackFieldTrials24 pic.twitter.com/j57bj8qIgY
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) July 1, 2024
The race was in hand by the final turn. She came down the final 100 stretch with only the clock as her foe. And, perhaps, Femke Bol of the Netherlands, McLaughlin-Levrone’s chief rival in the event. It looked as if the two-time gold medalist had run out of gas. But she just barely eeked across the line.
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Anna Cockrell finished second at 52.64 seconds. Jasmine Jones (52.77) took bronze and the final spot on the Olympic team. The top five runners in the 400-meter hurdles ran season or personal best times.
“I knew it would be a fast race,” Cockrell said. “PBs all around. I just wanted to put myself in there.”
McLaughlin-Levrone still won the race by two seconds. One can only wonder what time she would run with a competitor pushing her. Perhaps that will happen in Paris.
Required reading
- Gabby Thomas wins 200m at Olympic trials; Sha’Carri Richardson struggles in fourth-place finish
- Gabby Thomas, Team USA’s 200m star, is firmly in the Olympic spotlight — and ready for it
- Grant Holloway rolls as U.S. makes pre-Olympic statement in 110-meter hurdles
- Athing Mu, Nia Akins and the brutal line between Olympic dreams and agony
(Photo: Ben Lonergan / The Register-Guard / USA Today)
