Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone

Late last night, former Kentucky track star Sydney McLaughlin not only punched her ticket to the Tokyo Olympics, she became the first woman to EVER run the 400-meter hurdles in under 52 seconds. McLaughlin’s time of 51.90 seconds shattered the previous record of 52.16 seconds, set by defending Olympic and world champion Dalilah Muhammad, who was in an adjacent lane. Muhammad set that record in the 2019 World Championships, beating McLaughlin out by 0.07 seconds. Despite the rivalry, Muhammad was the first to embrace McLaughlin after last night’s stunning performance.

Sydney McLaughlin was only 17 years old when she made her Olympic debut at the 2016 Rio Games, becoming the youngest Olympic track and field athlete since 1972. As one of the U.S. Olympic team’s freshest faces, she didn’t make the 400m hurdles final in Rio, but she exceeded expectations. Now at age 21, McLaughlin will arrive in Tokyo with her eyes set on gold.

Five years after Rio, L’OFFICIEL’s July 2021 digital coverstar Sydney McLaughlin is back for another chance at an Olympic medal—this time with a new coach, a global ambassadorship with Tag Heuer, and a new outlook on life. “We had to fly out to Arizona for a month just so we could train consistently on a track because LA was still shut down,” she says to L’OFFICIEL over a Zoom call. “We just had to make the most of what we had, honestly."

Kentucky Wildcats track and field alumna Sydney McLaughlin and Team USA won a gold medal Saturday in the 4x400-meter relay in the final day of Olympic track & field competition. Team USA finished with a time of 3:16.85, with McLaughlin running the leadoff leg of the relay. McLaughlin did not run in the 4x400m relay heats due to their proximity to her gold medal-winning performance in the 400m hurdles, but Team USA finished with the fastest time (3:20.86). This is McLaughlin’s second gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics after winning the 400m hurdles in world record time (51.46).