Sydney Michelle McLaughlin-Levrone ( ; ; born August 7, 1999) is an American

hurdler Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today ...

and sprinter who competes in the 400 meters hurdles and is the world record holder in that event. She has won gold in the

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

and

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, as well as the

2022 World Athletics Championships The 2022 World Athletics Championships was the eighteenth edition of the World Athletics Championships. It was held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, United States, from July 15–24, 2022, with the country hosting that competition for the ...

. She set a world record time of 50.37 seconds at the 2024 Summer Olympics on August 8, 2024, breaking her own old world record of 50.65 seconds. She is the first track athlete to break four world records in the same event; setting four world records during 13 months, she was the first woman to break the 52-second (June 2021) and 51-second (July 2022) barriers in the 400 m hurdles. She won the silver medal at the 2019 World Championships. At all four competitions, she also took gold as part of a women's 4 × 400 m relay team. As a 15-year-old, McLaughlin won the 400m hurdles event at the 2015 World Youth Championships. In 2016, she was the youngest athlete since

Denean Howard Denean Elizabeth Howard-Hill (born October 5, 1964) is an American athlete who competed mainly in the 400 metres. At the Olympics she competed as Miss Howard in 1984, as Mrs. Howard-Hill in 1988, and as Mrs. Hill in 1992. She competed for the ...

in 1980 to qualify for the U.S. Olympic track team, having placed third at the U.S. Olympic Trials, with the current world under-18 best of 54.15 seconds, then also the world U20 record. She holds the current world U20 record of 53.60 seconds, having achieved a junior personal best of 52.75 s (not ratified), with both marks set in 2018. Aside from McLaughlin-Levrone, only three other women have ever broken the 52 second barrier, and only one other has broken 51. She holds six out of the ten fastest times on the world all-time list. She was the

2019 Diamond League The 2019 Diamond League was the tenth season of the Diamond League, annual series of outdoor track and field meetings, organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). It featured fourteen meetings, with the final two me ...

champion. In 2022, McLaughlin-Levrone was voted

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Female Athlete of the Year.

Early life and background

McLaughlin-Levrone was born in

New Brunswick, New Jersey New Brunswick is a city (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Dunellen, New Jersey. Her parents are Willie McLaughlin and Mary Neumeister McLaughlin. Her father Willie was part of a long line of track & field stars from East Orange High School, in

East Orange, New Jersey East Orange is a City (New Jersey), city in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 69,612, an increase of 5,342 (+8.3%) from the 2010 United States ...

. He is a member of the

Manhattan College Manhattan University (previously Manhattan College) is a private, Catholic university in New York City. Originally established in 1853 by the De La Salle Christian Brothers (Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools) as an academy fo ...

Athletic Hall of Fame as a three-time

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

. He was a semi-finalist in the 400 meters at the 1984 Olympic Trials. Her mother Mary was a 2:12 half-miler at Cardinal O'Hara High School in

Tonawanda, New York Tonawanda is a city in Erie County, New York, United States. The population was 15,129 at the 2020 census. It is at the northern edge of Erie County, south across the Erie Canal ( Tonawanda Creek) from North Tonawanda, east of Grand Island, a ...

, where she ran on the boys' team. Her parents met as students at

; there was no women's track team when Mary arrived in 1979, so she became the manager of the men's track team. In addition to being successful academically, McLaughlin-Levrone took up running at an early age, following brother Taylor and their older sister Morgan. When she was 14, her father said, "All of our kids are fairly talented, but ydney'sa little special. We saw it coming. It was just a matter of time." She is a member of the class of 2017 at Union Catholic Regional High School in Scotch Plains, where she was the first two-time

Gatorade Player of the Year The Gatorade Player of the Year awards are given annually to up and coming high school student-athletes in the United States. They are given for boys baseball, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls cross country, boys football, boys and girl ...

in Track & Field. Her older sister, Morgan, ran for St. Peter's University. Her older brother, Taylor, ran for the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

, and won silver in the 400 meter hurdles at the 2016 IAAF World U20 Championships. Her younger brother, Ryan, took after his older siblings as a track stand-out at Union Catholic. He was the fifth member of the family to win a New Jersey county track title.

High school and college career

At the national junior championships in 2014, McLaughlin-Levrone placed a close second behind Shamier Little in the 400-meter hurdles; her time of 55.63 s was a national

high school freshman Ninth grade (also 9th grade or grade 9) is the ninth or tenth year of formal or compulsory education in some countries. It is generally part of middle school or secondary school depending on country. Students in ninth grade are usually 14–15 yea ...

record and a world age-14 best. She would have qualified to represent the United States at the 2014 IAAF World Junior Championships, but was a year too young to be eligible. McLaughlin-Levrone also set a world age group best of 13.34 s in the 100-meter hurdles over hurdles that summer. In 2015, she improved her 400-meter hurdles best to 55.28 s at the national youth trials; the time was an age 15 world best, and ranked second on the all-time world youth list behind Leslie Maxie's world youth best (and national high school record) of 55.20 s set in 1984. She qualified for the World Youth Championships in

Cali Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,280,522 residents estimate by National Administrative Department of Statistics, DANE in 2023. The city span ...

, Colombia, where she won gold in 55.94 s; she finished the year as the world youth and junior leader in the event.

2016

McLaughlin-Levrone won the 400-meter hurdles in 54.46 s at the New Balance national outdoor high school championships; the time broke Maxie's prep record and world youth best, as well as Lashinda Demus's American junior record of 54.70 s. In addition, she ran on Union Catholic's team in the Swedish medley relay, running a fast 50.93 s split for 400 meters as the team set a new high school record of 2:07.99. She won the USATF junior championship in 54.54 s the following week; in recognition of her accomplishments, she was named Gatorade National Girls Athlete of the Year. McLaughlin-Levrone placed third in the 400-meter hurdles in 54.15 s at the US Olympic Trials , setting a new world youth best and world junior record and qualifying for the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

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before her senior year in high school. She was the youngest athlete to make the American Olympic track and field team since Carol Lewis and

qualified for the

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in 1980. At the Games, she placed fifth in her semi-final heat, failing to advance to the finals.

2017

She was part of an American record setting quartet that broke the indoor

distance medley relay The distance medley relay (DMR) is an athletic event in which four athletes compete as part of a relay. With its inclusion in the IAAF World Relays program, the IAAF announced on May 1, 2015 that the event would be an official world record event ...

world record with a time of 10:40.31, set at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix on January 28 at Boston's Reggie Lewis Center. The splits for the four legs were: 3:18.40 (1200 m) by Emma Coburn, 52.32 (400 m) by McLaughlin, 2:01.92 (800 m) by Brenda Martinez, and 4:27.66 (1600 m) by Jenny Simpson. Later that indoor season on March 12, McLaughlin-Levrone lowered her own national 400-meter record to a 51.61 s at the New Balance Nationals in New York City. In April, McLaughlin-Levrone opened her outdoor season by breaking the 300 m hurdles national high school record at the

Arcadia Invitational The Arcadia Invitational is a high school track and field meet in the United States. It is considered the most competitive meet in the country and has been billed as the "Home of United States high school national records in track and field, Natio ...

, running 38.90 s. The record was previously held by Lashinda Demus who achieved 39.98 s in 2001. The record was the first ever attempt over 300 m hurdles for McLaughlin-Levrone as high school track meets in New Jersey do not contest the 300 m hurdles. Her time was a North American record and number 2 all-time worldwide behind Zuzana Hejnová who ran 38.16 in 2013. Later that month, McLaughlin-Levrone ran the fastest ever high school girls relay split (400 m) during the Championship of America high school girls 4 × 400 at the 123rd Penn Relays. After taking the baton at the back of an eight-team field, she posted a split of 50.37 s, passing five teams to lead her Union Catholic relay team to a third-place finish in 3:38.92. McLaughlin-Levrone bettered this mark at the New Balance Nationals Outdoor Meet on June 18. Taking the baton in sixth place on the final handoff, she passed five runners to lead Union Catholic to victory, posting a split of 49.85 seconds. McLaughlin-Levrone was named the Gatorade National Female Athlete of the Year in 2015–16 and 2016–17. She was the first athlete to repeat in the then-15-year history of the award. At the age of 17, she was on the cover of ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

'' when she won the award the second time in July 2017 and the magazine said she "ranks as one of the most dominant high school athletes ever."

University of Kentucky

In November 2016, McLaughlin-Levrone signed a

National Letter of Intent The National Letter of Intent (NLI) is a document used to indicate a student athlete's commitment to participating in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) colleges and universities in the United States. The NCAA Eligibility Center manag ...

to attend the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...

and compete for their

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

program. In March 2018, she set the world junior 400-meter record of 50.36 seconds at the NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships. On May 13, McLaughlin-Levrone broke the collegiate record in the 400 m hurdles, running 52.75 s to win the event in her first SEC championship appearance.

Professional career

In June 2018, after one year at Kentucky, she forfeited her remaining eligibility to compete in college and turned professional, and signed a sponsorship deal with New Balance in October of the same year. Instead of hiring an agent specializing in athletes, McLaughlin-Levrone contracted with

William Morris Endeavor Endeavor Group Holdings, Inc. (formerly William Morris Endeavor and WME-IMG) is an American holding company for talent and media agencies with its primary offices in Beverly Hills, California. The company was founded in April 2009 after the me ...

, a firm that typically represents Hollywood stars. She is coached by track coach

Bob Kersee Bob Kersee is an American athletics coach. Initially intending to become an NFL coach, Kersee instead became a track and field coach at the suggestion of his sisters. His training group is known as Formula Kersee. Early life Kersee was born ...

, whose successes have mainly been with female athletes.

2019

DOH80081 400mH women final muhammad mc laughlin

At the

World Athletics Championships The World Athletics Championships, known as the IAAF World Championships in Athletics until 2019, are a biennial sport of athletics, athletics competition organized by World Athletics, formerly International Association of Athletics Federations ...

, held between September 27 and October 6, 2019 in

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, McLaughlin-Levrone ran the 400 m hurdles in 52.23 s finishing in second place behind Dalilah Muhammad. She won every

Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fifteen invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics one-day meet competitions. The inaugural season was ...

she ran over 400 m hurdles in this year, picking up wins in

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, and the Diamond League Final in

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

2021

However, in 2021, McLaughlin-Levrone defeated Muhammad at the Olympic Trials in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie River (Oregon), McKenzie and Willamette River, Willamette rivers, ...

, running a 400 m hurdles world record time of 51.90 s. Later, at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

in Tokyo, McLaughlin-Levrone bettered her time to 51.46 s to claim the Olympic gold. She later won a second gold as part of the women's 4 × 400 m relay.

2022

In 2022, McLaughlin-Levrone opened her season at the Penn Relays Carnival, dropping down in distance to the 100 m hurdles, which she won in 12.75 s. In June, she broke her own world record in 400 m hurdles again; running a time of 51.41 s during the USATF Championships at

Hayward Field Hayward Field is a track and field stadium in the Northwestern United States, located on the campus of the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon. It has been the home of the university's track and field teams since 1921, and was the on-campu ...

in Eugene. A month later at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

, also at Hayward Field, she broke her own world record again with a time of 50.68 s and becoming the first woman to run the 400 m hurdles in under 51-seconds. She also won gold as part of the Women's 4 × 400 m relay, running on the final leg. She ended her season by winning at the Gyulai István Memorial in Szekesfehervar, setting a European all-comers record of 51.68 s.

2023

On June 9, 2023, in her first race running the 400 meters as a professional, McLaughlin-Levrone ran 49.71 s while finishing second to

Marileidy Paulino Marileidy Paulino (born 25 October 1996) is a Dominican athlete sprinter specializing in the 400 meters. She won the silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, becoming the first woman from the Dominican Republic to earn an individual Olympic m ...

at the

meet in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, France. Later that month, McLaughlin-Levrone ran 49.51 s at the New York Grand Prix. On July 8, 2023, McLaughlin-Levrone produced a world-leading performance of 48.74 s at the USATF Championships in

, narrowly missing out on

Sanya Richards-Ross Sanya Richards-Ross (née Richards; born February 26, 1985) is a retired American track and field athlete who competed internationally for the United States in the 400-meter sprint. Her notable accolades in this event include being the 2012 Oly ...

's American record of 48.70 s. On August 11, 2023, she withdrew from the

2023 World Athletics Championships The 2023 World Athletics Championships (), the nineteenth edition of the World Athletics Championships, were held from 19 to 27 August 2023 at the National Athletics Centre (Budapest), National Athletics Centre, in Budapest, Hungary. The tourna ...

due to a knee injury.

2024

On May 18, McLaughlin-Levrone won the 200 m at the Los Angeles Grand Prix, beating 200 m specialists such as Gabby Thomas and

Abby Steiner Abby Kathryn Steiner (born November 24, 1999) is an American track and field sprinter. She is the U.S. indoor record holder in the 200 m and 300 m, and the NCAA record holder in the 200 m. Steiner holds personal bests of 10.9 ...

. At the New York Grand Prix in June, McLaughlin-Levrone competed in her first 400 m race of the season with a then-world-leading time of 48.75 s, just 0.01 s slower than her personal best. Having led the race early on, she powered ahead at 200 metres to beat the second-place finisher, Talitha Diggs, by over two seconds. In June 2024, McLaughlin-Levrone signed with Michael Johnson's Grand Slam Track league for the upcoming 2025 season, in the long hurdles (400 m hurdles / 400 m flat) category. On June 30, 2024, at the 2024 Olympic Trials, McLaughlin-Levrone would go on to break her own 400 m hurdles world record once more, finishing with a time of 50.65 s and qualifying for the

. On August 8, 2024, at the

in Paris, McLaughlin-Levrone once again broke her own world record, finishing with a time of 50.37 s and defending her Olympic title. She went on to win another gold as part of the Women's 4 × 400 m relay. On September 3, 2024, McLaughlin-Levrone was announced to compete in both the 200 m and 400 m in the 2024 Diamond League finals in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, Belgium, on September 13 and 14. However, a day later, Diamond League CEO Petr Stastny said that she was ineligible to compete in the finals, because she hadn't competed in any Diamond League events in the 2024 season, so she hadn't accumulated any points and didn't qualify for a wild card. She went on to compete in the pre-programme events in these distances instead, winning both with times of 22.40 s and 49.11 s.

Personal life

McLaughlin-Levrone is married to Andre Levrone Jr. (born March 9, 1995), who played four seasons at wide receiver for the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

before graduating in 2018, and who was with three NFL teams before retiring in 2020 without ever playing in a regular-season NFL game. Levrone and McLaughlin announced their engagement on August 25, 2021, at the Four Seasons Resort, Scottsdale. They married at Early Mountain Vineyards in

Madison, Virginia Madison is a town in and the county seat of Madison County, Virginia, United States. The population was 205 at the 2020 census. History The Hebron Lutheran Church, The Homeplace, James City Historic District, Madison County Courthouse (Virginia), ...

on May 5, 2022. McLaughlin-Levrone is a Christian. She and her husband are part of Grace Community Church in Los Angeles, and Andre is enrolled at The Master's Seminary, which is affiliated with the church. Her hometown of Dunellen, New Jersey, named the track at the town's Columbia Park for McLaughlin-Levrone on August 28, 2021. On January 30, 2024, McLaughlin-Levrone released ''Far Beyond Gold: Running from Fear to Faith'', an autobiographical book recounting her life and experiences from the 2016 U.S. Olympic trials through the 2023 outdoor season. McLauglin-Levrone's book focuses on her running career, while showcasing her journey to become closer to God. Her goal in writing this book was to not only share her personal journey, but also encourage others to do the same.

Personal bests

Information from

profile unless otherwise noted.

400 m hurdles progression

400 m progression

Competition results

Information from

profile unless otherwise noted.

International championships

Circuit performances

Wins and titles

400 m hurdles champion:

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

(3) (400 mH): Oslo Bislett Games, Monaco Herculis, Zürich Weltklasse

National championships

Awards

* World Athletics Awards :: Rising Star (Women)：2018 :: World Athlete of the Year (Women)：2022 :: Women’s Track Athlete of the Year：2024 * Night of Legends Award :: Jackie Joyner-Kersee Female Athlete of the Year：2021, 2022 :: Most Dominant Performer Wing Award：2024

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:McLaughlin-Levrone, Sydney 1999 births American female hurdlers American female sprinters 21st-century African-American sportswomen African-American track and field athletes Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2024 Summer Olympics Diamond League winners Kentucky Wildcats women's track and field athletes Living people Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field People from Dunellen, New Jersey Sportspeople from Union County, New Jersey Track and field athletes from New Jersey USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners Union Catholic Regional High School alumni United States collegiate record holders in athletics (track and field) World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States World Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics Championships winners World Athletics record holders Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics 21st-century American sportswomen