Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone will be running at the Brussels Diamond League after the meet organizers arranged two special races for the athlete. However, the Olympic champion will not be part of the Diamond League finals.
Recently, McLaughlin-Levrone made waves on the internet after she was given a global wild card for competing at the Diamond League finals in the 400m and 200m events, although she didn't meet the criteria of participating in at least one Diamond League event over the course of the season. However, she was later announced ineligible to compete in the finals.
Days after the announcement that the American athlete is ineligible to perform at the Diamond League finals, the Citius Mag has revealed that the Memorial Van Damme organizers have added two races to the schedule for her to race in. It also confirmed on social media that the athlete will be competing at the Allianz Memorial Van Damme and not as a part of the Wanda Diamond League finals races.
These two races have been scheduled to honor Sydney Mclaughlin-Levrone's stellar accomplishments in the 400m hurdles race at the Paris Olympics. She will be participating in the 400m and 200m. Here is the entire announcement by the media house:
The 25-year-old hurdler delivered a victorious performance in Paris by clocking a world record time of 50.37s. She defeated one of her arch-rivals, Femke Bol, who claimed third place in the 400m hurdles.
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone garnered support from track and field legend Carl Lewis
Sydney Mclaughlin-Levrone faced a lot of backlash from fans after she was announced to be eligible to compete at the Diamond League finals despite not fulfilling the required criteria of participation. Amid this, the American hurdler received support from the former track and field athlete Carl Lewis, who is now the head coach of the University of Houston's track and field program. He took to his X handle to showcase his support for the athlete, saying that this was done numerous times for him.
"They did it for me numerous times. It's been happening for years, and it has always been a great idea. Get the best athletes to race, any way you can."
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone is now a four-time Olympic gold medalist, having won two gold medals at the Tokyo Olympics in the 400m hurdles and 4x400m relay events and two golds in the previously mentioned events at the 2024 Paris Games.