Not 400 Mh, but Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone Finds This Track and Field Event the Most Challenging

Every top sprinter has that one comfort zone of a race that they are most comfortable with and, on the flipside, a race that they despise. Sydney McLaughlin harbors a similar dichotomy as well. She thinks competing in the 400m hurdles is easier than a normal 400m race. Being the world record holder in the discipline, McLaughlin clocked 50.68s back in 2022 to reign supreme in the division.

Over the years, she became the undisputed queen of the 400m hurdles. To further justify her position as a champion, McLaughlin won the gold in the Tokyo Olympics both in the 400m hurdles and the relays. However, when it comes to choosing between events, it seems McLaughlin has a personal favorite. Speaking at a press conference recently, the iconic athlete opened up about which event she thinks is a relatively easier territory than the other. 

Sydney McLaughlin runs in an easier discipline? That’s news to the uninitiated

The 3x World Champion gold medalist recently attended the press conference at the Edwin Moses Legends Meet. When asked about which among the 400m hurdles or 400m open she thinks is more challenging, McLaughlin responded with an interesting take. She chose her own discipline to be the easier one among the two and also justified it with apt examples. McLaughlin’s point of view was uploaded on X by an account named Sydney X Athing fan. The caption read, “Sydney McLaughlin says the open 400m is harder than the hurdles. The hurdles distract her from the fact that she is running a 400. She was speaking at the Edwin Moses Legends Meet the press conference.”

Reflecting on the topic, Sydney McLaughlin stated, “I think it chooses them. At least that is what it is for me. I think. I think the open four actually hurts more than 400 hurdles, in my personal opinion.” Building on her opinion, the track star further said that jumping over the hurdles seems like a fun activity for McLaughlin. In the process, it also acts a distraction for the athlete and spares her the pain of running the 400m distance. On the contrary, an open 400m would feel more demanding as the athletes had to run at a stretch, as per McLaughlin. 

Meanwhile, as successful a name McLaughlin is in the track and field realm, things are not at all rosy financially. Behind the glitz of the gold medals, lies a dark truth of track and field- athlete underpayment. And Sydney McLaughlin is not silent about it.

Sydney McLaughlin lashes out at the underpayment issue

The track and field realm has been ravaged by the underpayment issue lately. Several athletes have complained about not receiving enough funds to continue with the sport. To combat such an unprecedented situation, the World Athletics has announced a lump sum payment of $50,000 for all the gold medal holders in the Paris Olympics 2024. 

Raising similar concerns, Sydney McLaughlin stated, “There’s not enough money in the sport to really push it the way we want to. So, we need to bring people in who are gonna invest in us to market us better like Tennis, NBA, and NFL. And I think things are in the works that are going to make this happen.” Thus, with the Paris Olympics coming closer, it remains to be seen how the burning questions are being dealt with.