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Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone received an overwhelming share of votes to win the 2024 Kentucky Sports Figure of the Year award. The American hurdler was at her relentless best last season, winning two gold medals at the Paris Olympics.
McLaughlin-Levrone competed for the Kentucky Wildcats team for one year before turning professional in 2018 and has now become the first professional athlete to be named the Kentucky Sports Figure of the Year. She won an impressive 1004 votes to beat the likes of Nick Mingione, Lamar Jackson, and Masai Russel.
Mingione finished second with 653 votes while basketball player Travis Perry earned 651 votes for the third place. Jackson was seventh with 465 votes while Russel finished 14th with 139 votes.
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“I’m not sure if we’ve seen any Wildcat show as much dominance as (McLaughlin-Levrone) has,” wrote Colby Wilson of WDKY-TV. “... she continues to be the best at what she does by a long shot.” [via Lexington Herald Leader]
McLaughlin-Levrone earned the award on the back of an incredible season last year. She broke the 400m hurdles world record twice in the year and won two gold medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The 25-year-old beat Femke Bol and Anna Cockrell for gold in the 400m hurdles finals, running a new world record of 50.37s before clocking the third fastest 4x400m relay leg of 47.17s in history to win her fourth career Olympic gold.
"That definitely is on my mind" - Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone on running under 50s in the 400m hurdles
Sydney Mclaughlin-Levrone has nearly shaved off two seconds of the previous 400m hurdles world record of 52.16s. After running 50.37s at the 2024 Paris Olympics, the American hurdler is now looking to become the first woman in history to break the 50-second barrier.
“That definitely is on my mind for sure. An athlete would naturally want to do that. Whether that happens or not is up to God. I’m just going to work for it, I can’t put a number on it,"
“It may be me, or maybe an athlete in five or 10 years from now. So I’m just going to continue to try to be the best I can be and if it comes it comes, and if it doesn’t, it doesn’t," Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone told World Athletics
The 25-year-old was named Female Track Athlete of The Year by World Athletics, and alongside the World Championships, the four-time Olympic champion will be seen in action in the inaugural Grand Slam Track.
