"The track feels pretty fast" - Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone in high spirits following easy qualification run in 400m hurdles at the Paris Olympics 2024

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone took victory in the women's 400m hurdles Heat 5 and thought her rivals to be quite fast. At the 2024 Paris Olympics, the world record holder in the same will compete in her forte as she looks to defend her Olympic gold and the world record, possibly looking to lower it.

McLaughlin-Levrone was the first woman to clock sub-51s and sub-52s runs, doing so within a period of just 13 months, also setting the world record four times. She is the Olympics 400m hurdles champion and also anchored the 4x400m relay team to gold in Tokyo. In 2022, she repeated the winning feat and earned the 400m hurdles and 4x400m relay titles at the World championships.

Although she missed out on the 2023 Worlds because of injuries, McLaughlin-Levrone made a strong comeback in the 2024 US Olympic Trials, where she not only finished on top but also lowered her world record time to 50.65s. She entered the Paris Olympics as the favorite and lived up to her billing by winning Heat 5 of the women's 400m hurdles in 53.60s.

According to her, the track felt fast. She added that as she had not raced since the US Olympic Trials, it felt good to get going again for her:

"Feels good to shake the rust off. I haven't raced since the U.S. Trials. The track feels pretty fast. I wasn't expecting it coming into the second turn. Feels good to get back out there and compete," she said. (via an X post)

McLaughlin-Levrone has been chosen Team USA captain, an honor Allyson Felix held at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. McLaughlin-Levrone expressed pride in representing her nation at the Olympic Games:

"Honored to have that role. I know Allyson (Felix) had that last time. It's just great that among peers, they respect me as a competitor. I'm just hoping to represent USA as best as I can," she added.

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Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone is eyeing sub-50s run in 400m hurdles

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone became the first woman to clock sub-51s in 400m hurdles history. After her fifth world record moment, she said she wishes to run under 50 seconds either this year or sometime soon.

"I would love to – I don’t know if that’s this year, I don’t know if that’s next year," she said. (via The Telegraph)

After arch-rivals McLaughlin-Levrone and Femke Bol topped their respective Heats on August 4, they will compete in the semifinals on August 6 at 2:07pm ET. The finals of the 400m hurdles are slated for August 8 at 3:25pm ET at the Stade de France.