TRACK & FIELD
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone
Women ’ s World Athlete of the Year
BY JON MULKEEN FOR WORLD ATHLETICS
Having been one of the most prodigious talents in the sport for several years , Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone made a smooth transition into the senior ranks and earned her first individual global medal in the 400m hurdles just weeks after turning 20 . Fast-forward three years and the 23-yearold is now World and Olympic Champion , has broken the World Record on four occasions , and this past month was named the World Athlete of the Year .
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone was in imperious form at the 2022 World Championships in the USA
Her most recent revision of the mark – the 50.68 she ran to win at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene – is , statistically speaking , one of the greatest track World Records on the books , and improved her own previous mark of 51.41 , set at the US Champs earlier in 2022 , which in turn improved on the mark she set in winning Olympic Gold in Tokyo in 2021 . And she followed that record-breaking run in Eugene , which secured her a first individual senior World Champs title , by anchoring the US team to another 4x400m victory .
Her achievements this year led to McLaughlin- Levrone being named the women ’ s World Athlete of the Year . “ It means absolutely everything ,” she said , after receiving the award in Monaco . “ It has been an unreal season , and I ’ m really grateful that it has culminated in this to cap it all off .”
Eugene Euphoria
Of course , the highlight of her season was winning the world title in a World Record time on home soil – the kind of moment every athlete dreams of – and as great as her Olympic triumph was , being able to win a global title in the presence of her family and friends made it an extra special moment for McLaughlin-Levrone . “ It meant so much , especially after Tokyo and not being able to have family and friends there ,” she said . “ Being
Receiving her World Athlete of the Year Award from Prince Albert of Monaco able to have that moment on home soil and have all of them there – that was the icing on the cake for me .”
When McLaughlin-Levrone crossed the line at Hayward Field and 50.68 flashed up on the clock , spectators in the stadium let out a collective gasp . Just 13 months prior , no woman had ever broken 52 seconds for the 400m hurdles , but here was McLaughlin-Levrone venturing well inside the 51-second barrier , with a performance that would be highly competitive in most 400m flat races .
In the moments immediately after the race , some onlookers mistook McLaughlin-Levrone ’ s muted reaction for indifference , but she says that she was completely spent , and her brief wave to the crowd was all she had energy for . “ It was the worst pain of my life . I have never felt pain like it . So that sitting down wasn ’ t that I didn ’ t want to celebrate , I just couldn ’ t . A little wave was all I had . Had I done the 100m or 200m , then maybe I ’ d have been able to move a bit , but after those ten hurdles , that was everything I had ,” she explains .
“ I stumbled a little bit coming off hurdle nine , so I tried to clean it up a bit for hurdle ten ,” she recalls . “ Once I got to a point where I couldn ’ t see anybody , I was just running for dear life and trying to hold my form as best as possible . I just remember coming down the home stretch and my body was starting to shut down . I was really nervous I wasn ’ t going to clear the tenth hurdle . I was like , ‘ please just get over it clean and give it everything you have till the finish line ’.”
Positive Influence
McLaughlin-Levrone says that she and her coach Bobby Kersee had an inkling that she was on track to produce a sub-51-second clocking . “ Based upon my training , I think we knew that that kind of time was possible ,” she says . “ I don ’ t think I was super shocked or surprised . I was more just thankful that we were able to put that kind of a race together , because there are a lot of moving parts that have to be in the right spot to be able to do that .”
For most of the past decade , McLaughlin-Levrone ’ s career progression has been on an upward trajectory . Such is her talent , she most likely would have excelled regardless of which coach she settled with . But since becoming part of Bobby Kersee ’ s group in 2020 , McLaughlin-Levrone has gone from a promising young hurdler to a truly dominance force within the sport . “ Bobby is an established coach , with 40-plus years in the sport ,” she says . “ He is an amazing talent , and he knows the sport inside and out in a way that not many people fully understand . He has taught me not just about my event , but me as an athlete , and that ’ s what ’ s so beautiful about his coaching – he looks at the athlete and what their strengths are , and works with that through their event .”
McLaughlin-Levrone ’ s strength , she says , is her natural stride pattern . “ I used to think that I had to conform to what the stride pattern normally is for other athletes , but we learnt that it ’ s actually a strength to use it the way that I was made ,” she explains . Her weakness , meanwhile , was her hurdling . “ For a long time , it was very sloppy and needed work , so we worked on it and we did sprint hurdles ,” said McLaughlin-Levrone , who last year reduced her 100m hurdles PB to 12.65 – a time that would have been good enough for fifth in the Olympic final .
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