Who is Sydney McLaughlin's coach?

Sydney Michelle McLaughlin-Levrone is an American hurdler and sprinter who competes in the 400-meter obstacles. She was born on August 7, 1999. She set a recreation record as the 2020 Tokyo Olympic winner and a world record in 2022 with a time of 50.68 seconds. She got to be the first lady to break the 52-second (June 2021) and 51-second (July 2022) boundaries within the 400-meter obstacles, setting four world records in a fair 13 months. During the World Championships in 2019, she took home the silver decoration. She also won gold in the women's 4 × 400 m hand-off on all three occasions.

McLaughlin won the World Youth Championship in 2015 at the age of 15 years. She qualified for the U.S. Olympic track squad in 2016 as the most youthful competitor to do so since 1980 after wrapping up third in the U.S. Olympic Trials. Her later world U20 record-setting time of 54.15 seconds beats the under-18 check. McLaughlin-Levrone has the biggest current gap between the world record and another best entertainer in a given track occasion, with a about one-second advantage on the world all-time list. As it were, two other ladies have broken the 52-second boundary, and she is the first to break the 51-second boundary. She holds six out of the nine speediest times on the list. She won the Precious Stone Alliance championship in 2019.

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Sydney McLaughlin's coach

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone is coached by Bob Kersee. He has been coaching her since 2020, previous to Bob Kersee, Joanna Hayes who is an American hurdler and a gold medalist in the 100-meter hurdles at the 2004 Summer Olympics has coached Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone from 2018 to 2020. Edrick Floréal who is a retired long and triple jumper from Canada and track and field coach for the Texas Longhorns men's and women's track and field program has coached her from 2017 to 2018. Previous to him, Mike McCabe from 2013 to 2017 was the coach of Joana, he is a Head Boys and Girls Indoor Track & Field Coach at Union Catholic High School.

American track coach Bob Kersee was born in the Canal Zone of Panama and has mentored numerous outstanding athletes, including his wife, Olympic gold medalist Jackie Joyner-Kersee. Sydney trains in Los Angeles, California, where Kersee is based. Under Bob Kersee's tutelage, McLaughlin maintained his dominance in the 400-meter hurdles. With a time of 52.23 seconds, she took second place at the 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships. Her world record run of 51.46 seconds helped her win gold at the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo. She broke her record at the USATF Championships in June 2022, clocking 51.41 seconds. Later, at the World Championships in Hayward Field, she established a new world record of 50.68 seconds, making her the World Champion.

She ran 49.71 seconds in her professional debut in June 2023, and then she ran an incredible 49.51 seconds at the 2023 USATF New York GP. Notably, on July 8, 2023, at the USATF Championships in Eugene, Oregon, she set a world record by finishing the 400 meters in 48.74 seconds.

Bob Kersee's parents

Bobby Kersee was born in Panama in 1954 to a Panamanian mother and a U.S. Navy father. He moved to the United States and was raised primarily by his grandmother. His upbringing involved moving between the Bronx and Queens in New York City before he settled in San Pedro, California for high school.

Bob Kersee wife

Bobby Kersee is married to Jackie Joyner-Kersee, a former American track and field athlete who is considered one of the greatest female athletes in the heptathlon and long jump. She is a three-time Olympic gold medalist.

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Bob Kersee's coaching career

American track and field coach Bob Kersee was raised in the Panama Canal Zone. He is a 1978 alumnus of Long Beach State University with a B.A. in physical education and a master's degree in exercise physiology from California State University, Northridge, and San Pedro High School. He also attended Los Angeles Harbor College, placing third in the state hurdles competition. He coached the track squad at Northridge. He relocated in 1980 and spent four years as an assistant coach at the University of California, Los Angeles. He later assumed the position of head coach and made a name for himself as an elite athlete trainer. His reputation as one of the most accomplished coaches in the sport is well-known within the track and field community.

Bob Kersee achievements

Throughout his tenure, Kersee has guided several competitors to medals in the Olympics, Diamond League, and World Championships. Athletes that he has coached include Shawn Crawford, Andre Phillips, Dawn Harper, and Allyson Felix.

Having coached Olympic gold medalists in the 100- and 400-meter hurdles as well as the 100-, 200-, and 400-meter sprints, he is an excellent sprint coach. In addition, he is well recognized for having coached his wife, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, to two gold medals at the Olympics and a world record in the heptathlon that she still holds.

Athletes trained under Bob Kersee

• Andrea Anderson

• Jerome Bettis

• Jeanette Bolden

• Valerie Brisco-Hooks

• Kori Carter

• Kerron Clement

• Ginnie Crawford

• Shawn Crawford

• Gail Devers

• Allyson Felix

• Greg Foster

• Florence Griffith Joyner

• Joanna Hayes

• Dawn Harper

• Natasha Hastings

• Sherri Howard

• Magnolia Howell

• Jackie Joyner-Kersee

• Ty Law

• Nicole Leach

• Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone

• Tiffani McReynolds

• Brandon Miller

• Athing Mu

• Jenna Prandini

• Keni Harrison

• Morolake Akinosun

• Sha-ri Pendleton

• Michelle Perry

• Andre Phillips

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