World track athlete of the year Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone’s 2024 – in numbers

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone was named women’s track athlete of the year at the World Athletics Awards 2024 in Monaco after a season in which she twice lowered her own world 400m hurdles record and retained her Olympic title.

At this summer’s Paris Games, she also helped the United States make a successful defence of the women’s 4x400m title.

McLaughlin-Levrone’s first world record of the year came at the US Olympic Trials which she won in 50.65, taking 0.03 off the world record she had set on the same track two years earlier in securing the world title.

In Paris, the day after her 25th birthday, she lowered that mark to 50.37 to add a second Olympic 400m hurdles gold to the one she had won three years earlier in Tokyo.

She followed up by running the second leg for a US 4x400m relay team that won gold in a North American record of 3:15.27, the second-fastest time in history and just 0.10 shy of the long-standing world record.

Speaking on stage with her award at the Theatre Princess Grace, McLaughlin-Levrone commented: “It’s an honour to come here to have the season that the team have had together be recognised. We are always going to find something we can improve.

“It was an amazing year. I’m so grateful being able to be healthy coming back after last year. The ultimately glory goes to God. I am so super-honoured to be here.

Asked about her targets for next year, she replied with a smile: “I honestly don’t really know! Mondo’s already training. Maybe I should be!”

McLaughlin-Levrone’s 2024 in numbers

You broke the world 400m hurdles record twice in 2024, taking it from 50.68 to 50.65, and then 50.37. Do you think going below 50 seconds is now a possibility?

“That definitely is on my mind for sure. An athlete would naturally want to do that. Whether that happens or not is up to God. I’m just going to work for it, I can’t put a number on it.

“It may be me, or maybe an athlete in five or 10 years from now. So I’m just going to continue to try to be the best I can be and if it comes it comes, and if it doesn’t, it doesn’t.

“But I think for me it’s just the desire to improve. Every time you go back to the table and look at it, there is always something you can do better. It’s exciting in the hurdles, that there is always something you can improve on.”

You have now set six consecutive world records in the women’s 400m hurdles. Do you have a favourite?

“I think you can’t ever beat the first time,” she said, referring to her mark of 51.90 set at the US Olympic Trials in Eugene three years ago, which beat the record of 52.16 compatriot Dalilah Muhammad had set in beating her to the 2019 world title.

“It was the first moment of realising that my childhood dreams came true. Going under 52, all that hard work, seeing it come to fruition – I don’t think I’ll ever get past it.

“Realising that barrier was possible to break. Learning about myself as an athlete. That race, for me, was the stepping stone. We then were able to see that we could push this further and further.”

 

You ran 47.71 on the second leg as the United States won the Olympic 4x400m title in 3:15.27, the second-fastest time in history. You have also run 48.74 in individual competition, just 0.04 off the US record. How do you see your 400m flat running progressing?

“It’s always amazing to run with those ladies. We are really together now and we have our own training situations. Representing the USA together and getting that gold in Paris was just a really special moment.

“The 400m flat almost hurts a bit more than the hurdles, to be honest. You’re going faster and you definitely feel that. But I think the open 400m is very helpful in terms of speed endurance, and it’s always very helpful to have those hurdles in your mind when you’re running it.

“So they’re both great, and hopefully I will get some more opportunities next year to do some flat 400s.

The next summer Olympics in 2028 are due to take place in Los Angeles. Your thoughts?

“It’s super-exciting to be able to have the Games in LA, where I’m training right now. I drive by the Coliseum at times and imagine what it is going to look like during the Olympics. I hope LA is going to be prepared for that moment. I know it will be. It’s a really special opportunity to have the Olympics in our back yard.”

 

Only two women have broken 51 seconds for the 400m hurdles – you and Femke Bol. How do you rate her as competition and how do you see your rivalry playing out in the next few years?

“I think every athlete is focused on themselves, to be honest, because you still have to jump over those 10 hurdles. Obviously Femke is a wonderful competitor and there are so many women in our event that are just getting faster and faster. So you always have to show respect for your opposition because you never know what anyone is going to produce on any given day.

“But like I said, it’s you against you. And you have to be prepared to be at your highest level when you step on the track, because our event is going to heights I don’t think any of us imagined – which is amazing because we are all just pushing one another to be the best. And I am really happy to be a part of this transition.”

 

You have said that moments after winning the 400m hurdles world title in 2022, you experienced the worst physical pain of your life. Was the post-race pain better or worse in Paris?

“Believe it or not, it actually was better in Paris, although still very painful! But I think my body got used to 50-point and what it felt like going into shock.

“In Paris it was a bit better for sure because I knew what to expect. So the second half of the race and what that felt like was a little bit better this time around.”

You have achieved enormous success in your career so far. What is the one thing you have found hardest?

“I don’t think this will be a shock to the media but I think that for me would be the media and their opinions and stories of you they write. I know it’s their job to get an interesting story, but their story may not always reflect the truth.

“To any young athlete who is still very impressionable and trying to discover who they are, having the whole world have an opinion about them can be a little overwhelming.

“And I think that’s something that can be very difficult, especially on the world stage when you see articles that are written about you that are not true, and things that are posted about you that are not true.

“It’s very easy to let that get into your mind, into your performance, and I think that’s something I tell young athletes all the time that is just something you have to be aware of what you let into your mind and into your circle. Because it can affect you.”

Mike Rowbottom for World Athletics