Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, the reigning Olympic gold medalist and current 400-meter Hurdles world record-holder, will headline the Women’s 400m at next week’s 50th edition of The Prefontaine Classic. This will be McLaughlin-Levrone’s Prefontaine Classic debut.
McLaughlin-Levrone has already etched her name in history books as one of the greatest long sprinters and 400m hurdlers the world has ever seen. The first track athlete to break more than four world records in the same event, McLaughlin-Levrone broke her own record in the women’s 400m hurdles most recently at the Paris Olympic Games, where she ran 50.37 seconds.
McLaughlin-Levrone returned home from Paris with not one, but two gold medals – adding the second in the women’s 4x400m relay, an event where Team USA ran an area-record 3:15.27. Those two gold medals join the other two golds from the Tokyo Olympic Games, also in the 400m Hurdles (51.46 seconds) and 4x400m relay (3:16.85). In addition to Olympic glory, McLaughlin-Levrone owns three World Athletics Championships gold medals and one Diamond Trophy.
The Women’s 400m has been added to the meet’s program as a non-Diamond Discipline and will be McLaughlin-Levrone’s third flat 400m race this season. The last time McLaughlin-Levrone raced a 400m at Hayward Field, she ran her personal best time in the event: 48.74 seconds at the 2023 USATF Outdoor Championships. No stranger to the track in Eugene, three of McLaughlin-Levrone’s top-ten 400m marks occurred at Hayward Field, and four of her top-ten marks in the 400m Hurdles were run here. She first set the 400m Hurdles World Record at Hayward Field during the 2021 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Track & Field. McLaughlin-Levrone has gone on to break her own World Record three more times at Hayward Field.
“I’m excited to participate in this year’s Prefontaine Classic, which holds a special place in the heart of track and field,” says McLaughlin-Levrone. “I’m looking forward to competing against an incredible field of athletes and can’t wait to see everyone in Eugene!”
The 50th edition of The Prefontaine Classic will be held on Saturday, July 5 at Hayward Field at the University of Oregon.
By Joseph Amanortey Bleyor
