Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone is set to race in her second flat 400m race of the season at the New York Grand Prix on June 24. It will be fascinating to see how well McLaughlin-Levrone continues to adjust to the flat 400m. Coming off of a World and Olympic Title over the 400m hurdles, it will certainly be interesting if she can find the same level of success to the flat 400m. Tune into the meet on NBC from 1-3 pm est, on June 24.
McLaughlin-Levrone’s New Focus on the 400m
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone is known as one of greatest 400m hurdlers of all-time. She is an Olympic Champion, World Champion, and the World Record Holder in the event at only 23 years old.
Now that McLaughlin-Levrone has collected that triple crown of accolades already, it seems as though she is bringing her focus to a new event, the flat 400 meters.
Citius Mag reported that Mclaughlin-Levrone’s coach, Bobby Kersee, stated that she would focus on the 400m for the USA Championships. McLaughlin-Levrone later confirmed this.
It makes a lot of sense when considering that McLaughlin-Levrone already has the auto qualifier spot into the the World Championships for 400m hurdles, meaning she does not have to contest the 400m hurdles at the USA Championships in order to qualify for the World Championships in Budapest.
Although McLaughlin-Levrone has not ran many open 400m races in the last few years, she certainly has proven to have supreme speed over the 400m distance. She anchored the United States’ 4x400m relay last year at the World Championships, and split a 47.91 seconds to bring home the World Title in dominating fashion. It was the fastest split of the World Championships.
When this split is taken into consideration, it makes perfect sense as to why the flat 400m would be such a good fit for McLaughlin-Levrone. She has proven that her blistering 400m hurdle World Record of 50.68 seconds does translate to elite flat 400m speed.
Season Opener Over the 400m
Entering this season, Mclaughlin-Levrone had not run an open 400m since 2021. Her personal best over 400m was set at 50.07, which she ran in 2018.
Mclaughlin-Levrone crushed her personal best in her season opener at the Paris Diamond League. She ran 49.71, taking second behind the 2022 400m World Silver Medalist, Marileidy Paulino. Paulino’s experience in the event certainly showed as she timed her close perfectly to take the win in 49.12.
Mclaughlin-Levrone’s three tenths of a second PB is something that should be noted closely. To be able to set that large of a personal best in a season opener is simply incredible. Not only that, but the 400m has not been a focal event for her in several years.
One important note to make about Mclaughlin-Levrone’s season opener is just how fast she went out. McLaughlin-Levrone put an immediate gap on the field as she absolutely tore through the first 250 meters. She split 34.94 seconds through 300m, which would actually rank as the fifth fastest 300m performance of all-time.
This blistering early pace seemed to be very deliberate. McLaughlin-Levrone wasted no time going straight into a hard rhythm. It seemed as though she was aiming to test herself in a fast pace from the gun. She certainly made a statement in just how far into the well she was willing to go, showing no fear of the blazing fast early pace.
It seems that if McLaughlin-Levrone can find that final 150 meters to close down her open 400m, a special performance could be on deck. This performance could come with more fitness and races as the season progresses.
Another Spectacular Performance Could be set for New York
McLaughlin-Levrone’s second 400m of the season is certainly an exciting prospect. It could be an opportunity for the star to make another major jump in her 400m performance.
Although the time can be easy to get excited over, it is still relatively early in the season. This means that there is not guarantee for a super fast time. There is a guarantee for incredible competition.
The field set for the 400m is filled with World Class athletes. NBC Sports’ Travis Miller reported the full field on Twitter.
One athlete that could challenge McLaughlin-Levrone is Gabby Thomas. Thomas is the 2020 Olympic Bronze Medalist over 200m, with a personal best of 21.61 seconds. Thomas brings her wicked fast 200m speed to challenge McLaughlin-Levrone in a unique way over 400m.
If McLaughlin-Levrone is able to come away with a win in this field, it will be a good sign of things to come. She is still developing race experience in the flat 400m, which makes this race a particularly intriguing one to watch. It will be an important step in continuing to transition to an extremely high level in the 400m.
Implications on the Season Ahead
Given that McLaughlin-Levrone has chosen to focus on the flat 400m for the USA Championships, it will be thrilling to see her next step in pursuing 400m greatness. It is important for her to gain more race experience if she would like to compete for a 400m US Title, and potentially a World Title in Budapest.
If McLaughlin-Levrone is able to find that same groove in the 400m that she has in the 400m hurdles, it will be difficult for her to choose one in this year’s World Championships. It seems as though quite a bit of the decision making process could be based on how she continues to perform over these open 400m races.
Tune in on Saturday afternoon from 1-3 pm est. on NBC Sports to see if Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone can put together another elite 400m performance in New York.
Stay tuned for further professional Track & Field content, including meet previews, race analysis, and season projections.
Featured image courtesy of Adam Barcan.
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