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Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, the reigning Olympic champion in the 400m hurdles, recently tried out two new events at Grand Slam Track Philadelphia, competing in the 100m hurdles and 100m sprint. She was dealt back-to-back defeats in both races, and her training partner and fellow Olympic gold-medalist Athing Mu showed her support for the American.
At Grand Slam Track Philadelphia, McLaughlin-Levrone began her campaign with the 100m hurdles race, where she clocked a time of 12.70s to finish fifth. She followed this up with an appearance in the 100m flat, her first race in the distance as a professional, where she finished second behind Ackera Nugent with a time of 11.21s.
Reflecting on her time in Philadelphia, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone wrote on Instagram:
“Took a risk and and regret nothing. Hills and valleys alike make the journey beautiful. Philly you were amazing.”
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Reacting to this, McLaughlin-Levrone’s training partner Athing Mu showed her support for the American, writing:
“How can we not love ya.”
Mu is a middle-distance runner who competes in the 800m event, where she is a former World and Olympic champion.
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone reflects on her Grand Slam Track Philadelphia outing
In 2024, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone became the first athlete to sign with Grand Slam Track. In her first two outings in the league, the American competed in the long hurdles event group, claiming the honor of Slam Champion each time.
For Grand Slam Track Philadelphia, the 25-year-old chose to experiment with the short hurdles event group. After the meet, McLaughlin-Levrone was asked by Citius Magazine whether she felt nervous prior to competing in the new events, to which she replied:
“Absolutely, I think there's just so much around the unknown you know that definitely can make you nervous. Especially with the short hurdles, the barriers in the way. So I think it's natural, but that's a part of the challenge, (it) is pushing myself out of my comfort zone to do those kinds of things.
She went on to add that the outing was also fun since it gave her the chance to work on new aspects of her form, saying:
“It was fun, you know like I'm running 100 meters, trying to work on my sprint speed, mechanics, turnover, all those things. It’s just a change up and I'm happy I did it.”
Up next, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone will return to the track between June 27-29 for Grand Slam Track Los Angeles, the league's final meet for 2025.
