The American 400m hurdles star will forgo her signature event at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo

Photo by: Kevin Morris

U.S. hurdler Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone has already accomplished nearly everything there is to achieve in the 400m hurdles.

With two Olympic gold medals, a world championship title and six world records to her name, the 25-year-old is now ready to take on a new challenge: the women’s 400m.

According to Citius Mag, McLaughlin-Levrone has decided to compete only in the 400m at the upcoming U.S. Outdoor Track and Field Championships between July 31 and Aug. 3—confirming that she will forgo the 400m hurdles at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo.

McLaughlin-Levrone owns a personal best of 48.74 seconds, which she ran at the 2023 USATF Outdoor Championships—the last time she opted to skip the hurdles to focus on the flat 400m.

Her time makes her the second-fastest U.S. woman in history, just behind Sanya Richards-Ross’s American record of 48.70.

Since 2023, only three women worldwide have run faster than McLaughlin-Levrone: reigning Olympic champion Marileidy Paulino (48.17), Burundi’s Salwa Eid Naser (48.53), and Jamaica’s Nickisha Pryce (48.57).

McLaughlin-Levrone is one of 14 American women who have achieved the 400m world championship qualifying standard of 50.75 seconds.

She hit the mark last year at the Diamond League Final in Brussels, clocking 49.11. With so many American athletes already meeting the standard, McLaughlin-Levrone will still need to finish in the top three at next weekend’s USATF Championships to secure her spot on Team USA.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone in the heats of the women’s 400m hurdles at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Photo: Kevin Morris

Her absence from the 400m hurdles at Worlds opens the door for other contenders, like Canada’s Savannah Sutherland, to make a run at the podium.

Sutherland currently holds the third-fastest 400m hurdles time in the world this year (52.46), trailing only McLaughlin-Levrone and reigning world champion Femke Bol.

The 21-year-old Canadian is a two-time NCAA champion in the event and reached the Olympic final in Paris last year at her first Games.