Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone cruised to win the 400m hurdles in 52.07 seconds, the fastest time ever run before the month of June, at the Grand Slam Track Miami meet on Saturday.
“Just feeling 14 strides (between hurdles) again,” she said on the broadcast. “Obviously, there’s some stuff to clean up, but I’m happy with where my fitness is. For a second race of the year, I’m happy.”
McLaughlin-Levrone has won 12 consecutive 400m hurdles finals dating to her last defeat at the 2019 World Championships, breaking the world record six times in that span to bring it down from 52.16 to 50.37.
McLaughlin-Levrone will run the flat 400m on Sunday (3 p.m. ET, Peacock) with a chance to break Sanya Richards-Ross’ American record from 2006.
GRAND SLAM TRACK: Full Results | Broadcast Schedule
Also Saturday, Olympic gold medalist Gabby Thomas won the 200m in 21.95, but was edged for the Grand Slam short sprints title by Melissa Jefferson-Wooden. Jefferson-Wooden, the Olympic 100m bronze medalist, won Friday’s 100m and then placed third in Saturday’s 200m in 22.15, a personal best.
Kenny Bednarek, the two-time Olympic 200m silver medalist, won Saturday’s men’s 100m in 9.79 seconds. The tailwind of 2.4 meters per second was just over the 2.0 limit for record purposes. Bednarek became the 12th American to break 9.80 in the 100m when including all wind conditions.
American Jacory Patterson, who spends overnights loading UPS trucks, won the 400m in 43.98, a personal best and the world’s best time since last August. Runner-up Jereem Richards of Trinidad and Tobago took the Slam title in the long sprints when combining his 200m win Friday.
Steven Gardiner of the Bahamas, the Tokyo Olympic 400m gold medalist, pulled up limping midway through the race and dropped to the track.
