EUGENE, Ore. — Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone has a new target for her laser focus. That menacing stare, clenched jaw and iron will no longer have hurdles in her way.
Just 400 meters of track and a new crop of runners to take down.
That’s trouble for the Dominican Republic’s Marileidy Paulino, the reigning Olympic champion in the women’s 400 meters, and Salwa Eid Naser of Bahrain, the Olympic silver medalist.
Then there’s Sanya Richards-Ross, the American legend who holds the national record with a time of 48.70. It still stands, for now.
At the U.S. Track and Field Championships on Saturday, McLaughlin-Levrone cruised to the finish line at Hayward Field, the University of Oregon track where she’s authored many of her best moments. She clocked a time of 48.90 seconds in the women’s final on Saturday. She is technically unranked in the 400 flat, but she will head to the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo in September as one of the favorites for gold.
“I think that’s a very daunting task in and of itself,” she said of running the 400 meters at worlds. “It’s a very competitive field. So I respect those competitors, for sure. And I want to make sure I can give my all to those races.”
Saturday wasn’t the typically flawless version of Syd. She’d erased the stagger some 200 meters into the race. She came through the final turn clearly in front. The only question was how low her time would be.
But McLaughlin-Levrone looked to struggle over the last 50 or so meters. Her typically smooth stride looked a little labored. Perhaps that was the product of running this race on back-to-back days.
“It was good, it was good,” she said, “… being able to come back and just get it under my belt. Feel that. That’s what you need to feel. That’s where you go back to the drawing board to figure out what you need to work on.”
This was her fifth race of the year in the 400, including Friday’s preliminary heat. Her times have dropped with each final she’s run. She clocked in at 50.32 seconds at the Gland Slam Track (GST) event in Jamaica in April, then 49.69 at GST in Miami in May. Her time of 49.43 won first at the Prefontaine Classic in early July. Saturday, she got below 49 seconds for the first time since the USATF’s New York City Grand Prix last summer.
Her personal best (48.74) was at Hayward Field in 2023. While she still considers the 400 foreign to her, McLaughlin-Levrone has been an untouchable anchor of the women’s 4×400 relay team, which accounts for four of her seven gold medals combined between the Olympics and world championships.
McLaughlin-Levrone has won 19 straight individual races with a distance of 400 meters. Her last loss came in a Diamond League meet in Paris in June 2023, where she finished second to Paulino.
Five races into her return to the 400 as a focus, McLaughlin-Levrone is the best American in the event.
“I think everyone talks about the American record, of course,” she said. “That’s gonna come when it’s supposed to come. I think this year, and this event, has taught me patience. I think I’ve learned a lot about myself. I’ve learned a lot about the 400. But ultimately, every day it’s stepping on the track, being the best I can be, figuring out a race that is very foreign to me, and taking on new challenges and being comfortable doing it.”
Of course, she could be comfortable in just about any event, or multiple events. She’s that talented and competitive, but she prefers her attention undivided. She conquered the 400-meter hurdles, winning gold in Paris, and was so dominant that the nearest competitor, Femke Bol of the Netherlands, proved no competition at all.
McLaughlin-Levrone said she won’t run the 400-meter hurdles at the world championships in Tokyo next month, or at all in the 2025 season.
That could change moving forward. She said her team will revisit her focus for 2026. It’s feasible, though not probable, that she could win four gold medals in the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles. She won gold in the 400-meter hurdles and the 4×400 relay in Paris. If she adds 400 meters, that’s a third crack at gold. McLaughlin also expressed an interest in the 4×400 mixed relay, which proved exciting in Paris. That would be four events in which she could make America the favorites.
For now, all her energy is on the 400.
“This is a challenge,” she said. “It’s not as comfortable for us, but I want to challenge myself. I felt like this year, I wanted to step out of the box and really push myself in a different way. So, obviously, it’s uncomfortable, but I wanted to commit to it and I’m committed to it. Just excited to see where I can push myself.”
This is Syd talking, so very likely to the top.
What a year for Jacory Patterson
With Olympic champion Quincy Hall injured, the men’s 400 meters seemed like a chance for high-school sensation Quincy Wilson to make some noise. It was Jacory Patterson who stole the show, though.
His time of 44.16 seconds put him comfortably ahead of Olympian Chris Bailey, who took second at 44.43 seconds. Khaleb McRae finished third (44.45). Vernon Norwood, the other Olympian, took fourth (44.47). Wilson didn’t make the final round.
What a season it’s been for Patterson.
In February, he took silver in the 400 meters short track at the U.S. Indoor Championships. In March, he won a bronze in the same event at the World Athletics Indoor Championships. He also nabbed a gold in the 4×400 short track men’s relay at Worlds.
At the Grand Slam Track event in Miami this May, he was the Cinderella story, winning the 400 meters with a time of 43.98 — his first time breaking 44 seconds. That earned him an invite to the Diamond League. Three weeks later, he took first in the 400 in Morocco.
In June, the 25-year-old from Columbia, S.C., landed a sponsorship deal with Nike. He quit his job loading trucks for UPS.
Now he’s a national champion.
Put a crown on Masai Russell
Masai Russell, who followed last year’s U.S. championships with a stunning gold medal in Paris, earned her first world championships bid by winning gold Saturday in the women’s 100-meter hurdles with a time of 12.22 seconds. It’s the seventh-fastest time ever. Russell already holds the second-fastest with the 12.17 she ran at the Grand Slam Track event in Miami.
She made it look easy, and when she was done winning comfortably, she placed an invisible crown on her head.
“Queen of hurdles,” she said with a smile.
Grace Stark took second place in 12.31 seconds, and Alaysha Johnson took third in 12.36.
An undisclosed injury in May had Russell on the shelf for two months, and she said she couldn’t walk. She returned to action at the Prefontaine in early July, then found her form enough to defend her national championship.
Not Cole Hocker’s day
Cole Hocker, the University of Oregon product who stunned the world to win gold in Paris, didn’t have another wild comeback in him in the men’s 1,500 meters. Jonah Koech and Ethan Strand were simply too much.
Koech ran a 39.24-second split over the final 300 meters, making up four places to win gold in 3:30.17. The only faster final stretch was by Strand, who fell behind to eighth place heading into the final turn and then ran 39.09 to post a final time of 3:30.25.
Hocker, who famously stole the show at last year’s Olympics with an epic kick, settled for third with a time of 3:30.37 after not being able to make up ground on the two personal bests ahead of him.
Hobbs Kessler, America’s other Olympic qualifier who ranks No. 6 in the world, took fourth (3:31.12). Yared Nuguse, ranked No. 2 in the world in the 1,500, led the entire race and ran out of gas. He finished fifth (3:31.34).
Nikki Hiltz does it again
That’s three consecutive U.S. championships in the women’s 1,500 meters for Nikki Hiltz and eight total golds, including U.S. Indoor Championships.
After calmly pacing with the leading pack for most of the race, Hiltz pulled away down the stretch for a mild 4:03.15.
Hiltz won silver at the 2024 World Indoor Championships. At the 2023 worlds in Budapest, they finished 11th in the second round, failing to make the final.
(Photo: Emilee Chinn / Getty Images)
