You know that feeling when the track stars you look up to suddenly switch events? In 2025, many of us felt that. When some familiar faces made announcements that hit track and field like a jolt. Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone left the hurdles, only for her rival, Femke Bol, to quit it post-season, too. Meanwhile, Noah Lyles caught his fans off guard by venturing out over a full lap. Every choice sure came from a strategic viewpoint, but for the fans, they felt like the biggest shakeups they hardly saw coming…

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone switched to the flat 400m

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone continues to be the greatest women’s 400 metre hurdler, and there’s no questioning that. Especially after her six world records and two Olympic golds in the event continue to stand in all their glory. But while the memory of her 50.37s performance at the Paris Olympics was still fresh, she decided to challenge herself.

She ran the 400m flat at the Prefontaine Classic in 2025, posting a time of 49.43s. Her thoughts on this new change? “It’s been fun to challenge myself in those kinds of ways,” she said. At this point, she just kept saying, “options are open,” but in the coming days, the track world knew she was pivoting…

McLaughlin-Levrone’s decision was rooted in a desire to challenge herself beyond her established dominance. As she puts it, “I just want to be the best track athlete I can be. If that means it takes time to get faster in the 400, if it takes years, I want to work to do that.” And eventually, she got the results.

At the U.S. Trials, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone comfortably won the 400m race with a time of 48.90s, which was her season best so far. And then came Tokyo, which marked the core of her transition. In the semifinals, Sydney ran 48.29s, breaking the U.S. record. This was followed by her run on the rain-soaked Tokyo track, where she overcame the conditions to clock 47.78s and set a championship record. Only woman in nearly 40 years to crack the unscalable 48s mark!

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However, Sydney’s transition clearly wasn’t abrupt. It was a planned move aimed at making her a “better all-around athlete.” Her other experiments also included trying the 100m flat and 100m hurdles at Grand Slam Track, Philly. Thus, it’s quite evident that in 2025, she formally chose to try different events at both national and global meets. And while she did it mid-season, her rival opted to shake things up post-season.

Femke Bol eyes the middle distance next

While Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone made her mark in the flat 400m, Femke Bol, one of her toughest rivals over the hurdles, decided to take an even bigger leap. After dominating the 400m hurdles for years, including the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo in September, where she won gold in 51.54s, Bol decided to shift gears.

Back in October, Bol announced that starting from 2026, she will be leaving the hurdles behind to compete in the 800 meters flat. “It’s a really nice challenge. I think it’s something that we’ve had in our minds for a long time. For me, it was after Paris that it came to our mind that I’m now 25 and I want to achieve more in track and field,” she remarked, explaining her decision to the track world.

Bol explained that the 800m has been an event she has always loved to watch. And part of her reason sounded very similar to Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone’s, wherein she wanted to test her limits, too. And now, she proudly agrees entering the event as a beginner, “I think into the event I’m going really as a beginner, because I have no, of course, have a clue about 800m watching it, but I don’t have a clue running it.”

Well, her performances will start to show up in 2026, but before that, we have another 2025 experiment to discuss.

Noah Lyles’ 400m attempt

Who would have ever thought the reigning 100m Olympic champion, Noah Lyles, would set out to experiment in 2025, too? By 2025, Lyles had already built a résumé most sprinters only dream about. Three Olympic medals. A star so confident in his craft that comparisons to the sport’s greats followed him everywhere. His personal bests told the story of dominance. 9.79 in the 100m. 19.31 in the 200m.

But in April 2025, Lyles did what no one expected. He ran his first open 400m as a professional since 2016, at the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational in Gainesville, Florida. Finishing fifth in 45.87 seconds, it was a personal best and a statement, especially considering he had not raced the distance at the professional level in nearly a decade. But he’d sure dropped hints about taking it up.

Just last year, Lyles talked about possibly targeting the 400m. “I truly would like to take a shot at the world record if I decide to move to the 400m truly and give it my 100 per cent for multiple years – yeah, I’m going after the world record,” he said. Classic Lyles. Ambitious, unapologetic, and rooted in self-belief.

Even in March 2025, Lyles posted on social media about a 400m workout, saying: “Did a 400m workout yesterday and I’m not gonna lie… I think I need to run a 400 soon.” In fact, right before the race in April, he made his intentions clear with a social media post. “Today will be my first pro 400m! PR or Bust!”

Well, amid all the experiments, from Sydney’s to Noah’s, 2025 demonstrated that some athletes believe in stepping out of their comfort zones and challenging themselves over acquiring easy wins.