Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone demonstrated why she is considered one of the most dominant athletes of the present era by breaking the world record at the Stade de France during the 2024 Paris Olympics. Competing in the 400m hurdles final, McLaughlin-Levrone claimed her second Olympic gold medal in the event with a record-breaking time of 50.37 seconds.
In one of the most anticipated events of the Paris Olympics, fans were expecting a nail-biting showdown between McLaughlin-Levrone and European record holder Femke Bol. However, in the final, McLaughlin-Levrone asserted her dominance by crossing the finish line with a world-record time.
One can watch the video of the 25-year-old scripting history here as the athlete shattered the world record in the discipline for the sixth time.
Meanwhile, Femke Bol wasn't at her best but won the bronze medal with a time of 52.15 seconds, which was also her second consecutive bronze at the Olympic Games in the discipline.
McLaughlin-Levrone’s compatriot Anna Cockrell delivered a lifetime best performance at the Paris Olympics to bag the silver medal, clocking 51.87s. However, another USA athlete Jasmine Jones, narrowly came fourth despite achieving a personal best time of 52.29s.
With this, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone has now added three gold medals to her Olympic medal collection. Notably, she also broke the world record at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the 400m hurdles, registering a time of 51.46s to finish ahead of the 2016 Olympic gold medalist and compatriot Dalilah Muhammad, who won silver with a personal best of 51.58s.
Additionally, she also featured in the women’s 4x400m relay event at the Tokyo Olympics where she contributed to the United States’ gold-medal triumph by running the first leg as the team clocked a sensational 3:16.85.
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone’s road to Paris Olympics 2024
To qualify for the Paris Olympics, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone competed at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials in the event, where she hogged the spotlight once again by smashing the world record in a time of 50.65s. With this, she also advanced to her third successive Olympic Games.
In the finals of the trials, she finished much ahead of her competitors, with Anna Cockrell and Jasmine Jones placing second and third respectively, with times of 52.64s and 52.77s.