Americans Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Melissa Jefferson-Wooden completed sweeps to join the list of Grand Slam Track champions and close the series’ debut meet in Kingston, Jamaica.
McLaughlin-Levrone breezed through Sunday’s 400m in 50.32 seconds in a windy National Stadium, pairing it with a 400m hurdles victory on Friday to win the long hurdles group.
McLaughlin-Levrone, the two-time Olympic gold medalist and world record holder in the 400m hurdles, took the Kingston races by dominant margins — 1.77 and 1.83 seconds.
McLaughlin-Levrone is signed up for all four Grand Slam Track meets this season. Kingston is followed by Miami (May 2-4), Philadelphia (May 30-June 1) and Los Angeles (June 27-29), all live on Peacock.
GRAND SLAM TRACK: Full Results
McLaughlin-Levrone said she’s “looking at” switching to the 100m and 100m hurdles for Philadelphia and maybe the 200m and 400m in Los Angeles.
As for September’s World Championships, she plans to make a decision later this season whether to focus on the 400m hurdles or the flat 400m.
Earlier Sunday, the Olympic 100m bronze medalist Jefferson-Wooden completed a sweep of the short sprints, adding the 200m (23.46 into a 4.7 meter/second headwind) to her 100m win from Saturday.
“I stepped up on the scene last year,” she said. “People kind of remembered who I was. But now, this year, I’m going into it with a statement, just saying, ‘Hey, I’m here. You can count me out if you want, but I’m still going to be here no matter what you may think of me.’”
American Grant Fisher wrapped up the long distance Slam title with a third-place finish in the 3000m. Fisher, a two-time Olympic bronze medalist, earned the biggest international outdoor victory of his career in Friday’s 5000m.
In the 800m, Canadian Marco Arop ran away from Kenyan Emmanuel Wanyonyi in a reversal of their one-two from the Paris Olympics.
Arop clocked 1:45.13, while Wanyonyi (1:46.44) paired the runner-up with his 1500m win Saturday for the Kingston Slam short distance title.
