Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone will be narrowing her focus at August’s World Track and Field Championships. Coach Bobby Kersee told the Los Angeles Times that the Olympian will only race the 400 meters at the upcoming meet in Budapest.
The 23-year-old currently holds the 400-meter hurdle world record and is the reigning world champion in the event. McLaughlin-Levrone also recently ran the 10th-fastest flat 400-meter race of any woman in history, leading some to speculate that she would aim for two gold medals at this year’s competition. Coach Kersee said she’ll hone in on one instead.
“The double does not allow us, I think, the proper amount of time and recovery to do both, and I think the bigger challenge would obviously be to see how we can do in the 400,” Kersee told the LA Times. “We won our nationals, which is hard to win, and we did it in good fashion, so I think that we want to continue moving forward with the challenge.”
He did add that McLaughlin-Levrone would compete in 400-meter hurdles again in the future. “We might as well continue the journey, in my opinion, that way,” he said. “By no means does that mean we’re giving up the 400 hurdles or whatever goals we might have in the future toward being an Olympic champion again in the 400-meter hurdles or challenging the world record in the 400-meter hurdles or what have you.”
The coach also seems frustrated that the tight schedule at Worlds doesn’t allow for ample recovery time for athletes wishing to double-up in events. For McLaughlin-Levrone to compete in the 400 meters and 400-meter hurdles, she would have to run six races over five days (August 20-24).
“I think, in fairness, that the heads of [the Olympic organizing committee, World Athletics, or USATF] should look back in the ’70s and ’80s and the ’90s and say, well, if we allowed it to happen one time and we got athletes again, wouldn’t it be fair to also look at giving these athletes of this new group those same challenges, as well as maybe a unique double of the 400 meters and the 400-meter hurdles?” said Kersee to the LA Times.
Currently, McLaughlin-Levrone is entered in the 400 meters at the Monaco Diamond League meet on July 21—a “tune up” race, according to Kersee.
Kells McPhillips is a health and wellness journalist living in Los Angeles. Her work has appeared in Runner's World, The New York Times, Well+Good, Fortune, Shape, and others.
