Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone expressed her thoughts after winning the title in the women's 400m at the Prefontaine Classic 2025. The American athlete clocked a season's best performance of 49.43s to clinch the top spot and shared that she was a little disappointed, as she knew that she could perform better.
McLaughlin-Levrone marched into the Prefontaine Classic after getting out of her comfort zone and competing in the short sprints (100m, 100m hurdles) at the Grand Slam Track in Philadelphia. She competed in her third 400m race of the season in Hayward Field and dominated the line-up with an incredible performance, continuing her unbeaten streak in the event.
Aaliyah Butler clinched the second position with a time of 49.86s and Isabelle Whittaker finished third after clocking 50.81s. Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone opened up about her performance in a post-race interview and expressed that she was slightly disappointed.
Moreover, the Olympic gold medalist shared that she has been consistently working on her 400m and learning multiple new aspects of the distance as she competed in the season. Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone expressed confidence in her abilities and said that she wanted to go faster in the future.
"Disappointment. I just know that I'm more fit than that. So, it's just about executing and putting our race together. And like I said yesterday, the 400m is something that I'm working on. So, every time I just feel like I'm learning a bit more. But yeah, definitely always want to go faster and I know I'm capable of it," she said. (0:33 onwards)
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone on pushing herself in pursuit of greatness

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone expressed her thoughts about pushing herself by going out of her comfort zone in an interview at Grand Slam Track. The American athlete opened up about her desire to take up hard challenges and compete against the best of the best.
The Olympic gold medalist shared that such a mindset would help her to excel in the event as well as push her limits.
"I mean just being able to do hard things and being able to go against the best of the best. Understand what it takes for me to become a better hurdler, sprinter and get in that mental mindset space where other people are comfortable and I'm not. I think that was the biggest thing for me today like, you can do hard things and you don't have to be afraid of the challenge," she said.
McLaughlin-Levrone continues the 2025 season with the aim of winning the World Championships in Tokyo later this year.