In the category of 400m hurdling, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone has been heavily dominant for a long time now. Ever since her first and only second-place finish at the 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships, she has become arguably the greatest hurdler of all time. She has broken the world record six times now with the latest coming in during the Paris Olympics. There, she finished the race in 50.37 seconds. However, despite this, she has been criticized for her inactivity on the track as she only appears in the big competitions.

A Reddit user named Impressive-Ad1944 claimed that if Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone competes regularly, a rivalry could form between her and European Championship winner Femke Bol. They argued that the Dutch hurdler could get much closer to the American if she competed regularly. This is a great prospect for the fans as it would bring back competition to the sport.

They said, “Leading up to the women’s 400m hurdles final at Paris 2024, the commentators had me worried that Sydney would lose the race to Femke. But my girl Syd blew everyone away and won gold, breaking the world record in the process. I think it could be closer between these two amazing athletes going forward. They will be around for the 2025 and 2027 World Championships, as well as the 2028 Olympics. I just wish we could see them compete in-between, like at the Diamond League meets.”

Fans of Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone dismissed this, as they did not believe Femke Bol could get close to her abilities. This is because there’s no proof of it all, as every time they have competed, Sydney has emerged victorious. Thus, a rivalry cannot exist between those two. This is exactly how the comments on Reddit reacted to the post.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone’s rivalry with Femke Bol manufactured according to fans

One user acknowledged Femke Bol’s ability and the fact that she is the second best in the world. But, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone is on another planet. They said, “Why? Sydney owns her. Bol (usually) smokes everyone on the planet not named Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone. Syd smokes Bol.” The records prove this as Femke Bol is currently the second fastest 400m hurdler of all time, with 50.95 seconds. However, she still can’t touch Sydney’s 50.47. “Femke is a generational runner. Sydney is a historic runner,” said another.

A user said that the rivalry needs to be competitive and have a bit of hatred between the athletes to be entertaining. They referenced the one between Jakob Ingebrigsten and Josh Kerr. Both the athletes are more or less equal to each other and do not like each other, giving it the right amount of hype. They said, “It’s not a rivalry if it isn’t competitive. The reason that the men’s 1500 has been so dramatic is that 3 of the top 4 have all won it in the last month. Add in a little personal drama to that and it’s must see tv.” Compared to this, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Femke Bol’s rivalry seems very artificial. “It’s not a real rivalry. Just a forced, manufactured narrative that NBC tried to push for a year.” One user said.

Despite this, many fans acknowledge the fact that the only reason the idea of this debate exists is only because of Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone herself. If she were more active, there would have been no point in this at all. “Sydney not racing much and deciding to skip worlds built this up a lot. Kind of an interesting counterargument to the complaints,” said one user. For now, Sydney is the clear winner in the conversation about who’s better between her and Femke Bol. But can the Dutch hurdler catch up to her? What do you think?