As expected, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone plans to race the flat 400m and not the 400m hurdles at next month’s world track and field championships.
McLaughlin-Levrone’s coach, Bobby Kersee, confirmed the plan Wednesday. The Los Angeles Times first reported the news.
Kersee said in May that McLaughlin-Levrone’s race plans for worlds in Budapest would be decided after the USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships, which were last weekend.
Kersee said then that the world championships schedule was not conducive to run both the 400m and 400m hurdles. The 400m hurdles heats start 2 hours and 20 minutes before the 400m semifinals.
McLaughlin-Levrone had a wild card into the 400m hurdles at worlds as defending champion, so her dropping it will not bring another American onto the team in the event.
When she won the 400m at USATF Outdoors on Saturday, she qualified for that event, too.
McLaughlin-Levrone said last fall that she wanted to add the flat 400m to her program to see what’s possible. All five of her races this season have been in that event, most recently running the second-fastest time ever by an American to win the national title. That 48.74 also marked the world’s best time since the Tokyo Olympics.
Her last hurdles race was last Aug. 8.
No man or woman has won a world championships medal in both the flat 400m and the 400m hurdles over a career.
Kersee said that a decision has not been made on what event(s) McLaughlin-Levrone will pursue for the 2024 Paris Olympics.