Where will Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone stop? After watching her 400m hurdles time lower down for the sixth time in the Parisian arena, we scramble to find the answer. Going into the race as a reigning Olympic champion, Sydney was already ahead of her peers as the heavy favorite. Her only visible competitor was Femke Bol of the Netherlands, who was the only woman alongside Sydney to have run the race below 51 seconds. As Bol stumbled at the very beginning of the race, the door was already wide open for Sydney.

But what mattered was her incredible dominance. Sydney finished the race (50.37s) with a full 1.5s lead over silver medalist Ana Cockrell. Known for her focus exclusively on 400mH, she had more in her kitty this time. In her 4x400m relay, she ran a 47.7s split in the second leg, which is the fastest since 1982. Despite showing off such a brilliant form, Sydney is in the same boat with us about her future: clueless!

In an interview with Olympics.com days after the games ended, Sydney talked about the “surreal” feeling the outing had given her. Naturally, that raised the question of whether she will run to have the same moment on her home turf in Los Angeles four years later when she will be 29. That brought a smile to Sydney’s face.

“I mean, I don’t know what the future holds. I don’t know what’s in the cards for me, but bringing the Games back to the United States is going to be special in and of itself. And so, whether it’s the 400 hurdles or any other event, it just would be an honor to compete for USA,” Sydney said. So does that mean she will go for more record-breaking runs, which might go below 50 seconds?

“I treat every meet like its own. So, this was my first time in Paris racing for this Olympic gold. I was just treating it like this was my first time here, and trying to go for it the same way,” Sydney said, indicating the unpredictability of the sport. Despite that, Sydney has kept one thing obvious: her winning streak. On the way to becoming the first woman ever to defend the 400mH title in the Olympics, Sydney has not seen a defeat in the event since the 2019 World Championships. Need more proof?

From 1984 to 2019, the timing of the 400mH has been lowered by 1.42 seconds. But in 3 years Sydney has reduced it more than that. Let us take a look.

• 51.90: 2021 US Olympic trials
• 51.46: 2021 Tokyo Olympics
• 51.41: 2022 US nationals
• 50.68: 2022 world championships
• 50.65: 2024 US Olympic trials
• 50.37: 2024 Paris Olympics

One more could have been easily added to the list had Sydney not missed the 2023 World Championships for a knee injury. One might wonder, what is the secret of this dominance. Sydney herself has the clue.

“I think the fact that there’s always more that can be done. You know, there’s always ways to improve. And I love trying to figure out what those are and push myself to try to break those barriers and boundaries,” Sydney explained. And she has used this innate variety of the 400mH to its fullest potential. Over the years, under the watchful eyes of the legendary Bobby Kersee, and through numerous changes, Sydney has perfected the stride pattern that would work best for her. But it is not just the technicalities, Sydney has one more weapon.

Sydney’s ability to put her body and mind in sync is something that keeps her ahead of her peers. Her high school coach Michael McCabe can recall an instance at the school. While casually hanging out in the gym, Sydney picked up a basketball and scored five 3-pointers in a row. “Form is terrible, but she picks up the ball and can put it in the basket because she just has that athletic IQ. She just figures it out,” the coach said. To top it off, Sydney seems to have some strategy in place to increase her longevity in the sport, which is directed by Kersee.

Sydney McLaughlin Levrone saves her best energy for the biggest occasions

Getting to watch Sydney run is different. And rare as well. Not only because her abilities are out of the world but also because she is extremely picky about her races. Since she clinched the 400m hurdles title in Tokyo in 2021, she has not run in the 400m hurdles in a Diamond League meet. This year also, Bobby Kersee had informed ahead of the Olympics about her no-show in any Diamond League. In fact, just days before, it came to light that she would not take part in the upcoming Lausanne Diamond League on August 22.

Fans widely criticized this move, especially targeting Kersee. But their strategy is clearly saving the best energy and tactics for the right moment. In an interview with the Sports Illustrated, Kersee had revealed what plays out behind taking these calls. “First, it’s based on health. Then, it’s just based on performance and what’s needed,” he had said. This has led them to take some unconventional steps in the past.

Instead of running around the world to get the ‘feel’ of the ambiance, Kersee is more in favor of nurturing Sydney’s talent on home tracks. And he never minds criticism for that.

“You can go to Italy, France, Germany or whatever. Same thing – we can go to Atlanta, New York, or wherever. For us, it’s a 14-hour or seven-hour time difference, language change, and food change. It’s kind of difficult for us to go to Europe and base camp over there and then come back home and then make our American teams and stay healthy,” Kersey was clear in his argument. As things stand, this has paid Sydney well on each of the biggest stages, which might enable her to lengthen her career. One more factor adds to this.

Kersee has kept Sydney fiercely focused on the 400mH event. In the LA Grand Prix in May, Sydney cruised to victory in 200m with a personal best. (22.07). Although that made her eligible for the trials she let it go. “I know Sydney can sprint. She actually wanted to run 200s more last year but I wanted her to concentrate on the 400m first and then back down into the 200ms. With the 400m hurdles and the 100m hurdles, I know she’s going to get turnover work. She has sprinters that she’s working out with on our team,” Kersee had said.

Taking all these together, it seems like Sydney has a perfect combination of raw talent and the strategy to sharpen that. With that, there is no reason why Sydney won’t come back to LA28. We keep our fingers crossed!