As Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone entered the final stretch of the 400-m flat at last year’s World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, she thought only of getting it done. It wasn’t until she crossed the finish line that she realized she’d clinched the world title and clocked the second fastest time in history (47.78 sec.), just 0.18 sec. shy of a 40-year-old record. “Seeing that time on the clock—and it being a time we hadn’t seen for so long—was kind of a shock,” the 26-year-old says. Minutes later, she was already planning how to beat it.
It is this drive that has propelled McLaughlin-Levrone all the way to the top. At 17, she made her U.S. Olympic Team debut in the 400-m hurdles in Rio de Janeiro; she won gold in both Tokyo and Paris, and has set six world records for the event. Then she conquered the 400-m flat, a race with different physical demands. Her 2025 world title prompted her second Women’s World Athlete of the Year designation. True to form, she has her sights set on the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Olympics. Though she doesn’t plan to compete in both the flat and hurdles, she confirms her goal is to run multiple races. “We’re blessed to have options,” she says.
But first, she’ll add another title to her résumé: parent. In January, she and her husband Andre Levrone Jr. announced they’re expecting their first child. “I was very encouraged by the responses from so many people—of congratulations and joy, as opposed to only caring about track and field. Because that’s what I do,” she says, “but that’s not who I am.”
