Olympic champion Sydney McLaughlin has set the 400-meter hurdles world record, not once, not twice, not three times, but four times—with her latest coming on July 22 at the World Athletics Championship in another mesmerizing time of 50.68.
Here’s what you need to know about the 22-year-old phenom from Dunellen, New Jersey.
Hitting the national stage early
McLaughlin made her Olympic debut as a teenager and was affectionately dubbed “Syd the Kid.”
In 2016, at the age of 16, she became the youngest athlete to make the U.S. Track and Field Olympic team in nearly 40 years. Although McLaughlin, who turned 17 at the Rio games, did not progress to the final, the experience was impactful.
During a previous interview, McLaughlin said, “I think it actually took me going to Rio to understand that, okay, this one is out of the way… now I can really go to the Olympics.”
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Progressing quickly
With the Olympic games postponed due to the pandemic, Los-Angeles based McLaughlin capitalized on the extra time to gain more experience and make key training changes, like switching to coach Bob Kersee.
Her tactics paid off. In June 2021 at the U.S. Olympic Trials, McLaughlin set the 400-meter hurdles world record. With a time of 51.90, she was the first woman to ever complete the event in under 52 seconds.
Then in August 2021 at the Olympic games in Tokyo, McLaughlin ran even faster. She won the 400-meter hurdles in a blistering 51.46, breaking her own world record and beating defending Olympic and world champion Dalilah Muhammad, These are the Coolest Uniforms at Worlds.
Best Folding Treadmills, Allyson Felix, and Athing Mu. She left her second Olympic games with two gold medals and a world record, which would not last for very long.
At the USATF Outdoor Championships last month, she did it yet again. McLaughlin lowered the 400-meter hurdles world record for a third time, finishing the race in 51.41.
It runs in her genes
McLaughlin’s extraordinary talent was apparent from an early age and her family members share a similar passion and aptitude for running. Her father, Willie, was a 400-meter runner and semifinalist at the 1984 Olympic Trials, while her mother, Mary, was a runner in high school. McLaughlin’s brother Taylor also excelled at the 400-meter hurdles, placing second in the 2016 IAAF World U20 Championships.
As a student at Union Catholic Regional High School, McLaughlin set numerous American, world youth best, and world junior records. She was a two-time recipient of the Gatorade National Female Athlete of the Year award. And at 17 years old, she was on the cover of Sports Illustrated and described as “one of the most dominant high school athletes ever.”
McLaughlin experienced similar success on the University of Kentucky track and field team. She shattered collegiate and NCAA records during her one year as a Wildcat, before deciding to go professional and signing with New Balance in October 2018.
Over the past few years, McLaughlin has become one of the most recognized track and field athletes in the world. And on July 22, all eyes were on McLaughlin during the world championships final, where she set another world record with her incredible time of 50.68. Femke Bol—the Dutch athlete who finished third in Tokyo—took second, while fellow U.S. athlete Dalilah Muhammed took bronze.
who finished second in 51.58.
“Iron sharpens iron,” McLaughlin said in a previous interview. “There’s no animosity or hard feelings. We have to have each other to have these world records.”
Stephanie is a freelance writer and running enthusiast based out of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, who specializes in writing about health and fitness best practices and covering elite runners and inspirational competitors for publications such as Runner's World, The Guardian, Women’s Running, PodiumRunner, Wingfoot and Competitor Magazines. When she's not writing, you can find her running the trails with her two Vizslas or traveling with her husband to races around the world, constantly on the quest for a personal best
