This year, when Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone moved from hurdles to the flat 400m, many wondered if she could assert the same dominance on the tracks without obstacles. However, at the 2025 World Athletics Championships, McLaughlin-Levrone threatened the 40-year-old record of Germany’s Marita Koch, who clocked 47.60 back in 1985. Pushing every limit, the American thundered across the finish line in Tokyo in 47.78, stunningly fast, yet just shy of history. And as whispers swirl, one question hangs in the air: did the weather steal her record?

Since Tokyo, McLaughlin-Levrone has been in recovery mode, spending her days resting and losing herself in quiet, thought-provoking books. With the gold medal around her neck, she’s proud of her 47.78 in the 400m final, making her the second-fastest woman in history, but being mere seconds from the world record still lingers in her mind, perhaps a casualty of the rain that day. Talking to the Telegraph, the athlete revealed what was going through her mind, “My biggest worry was, ‘Are we going to get all the way to the stadium warmed up and then there’s a weather delay at 10.30 pm? So for it to just be some light rain, I was like: ‘This is great.’ There is always just that sense of a dry track, the energy return… but I’m not even going to worry about that. “

She further added, “I’m grateful it wasn’t thunder and lightning. It was kind of a blur. It hurt. It was hard. It was a really tough race, but I’m happy with the time. It’s fun to think about maybe what the difference would have been. But I can’t complain with 47.7. To see it actually pop up on the clock is like, ‘Whoa’ because, for so long, we just haven’t seen a four followed by the seven. I honestly haven’t assessed what next steps look like.”

On the fateful night when she broke the record, the track was still glistening from earlier rain, and the heat that had weighed on other events was a distant memory. Down the backstretch, McLaughlin-Levrone edged ahead of Marileidy Paulino, with Salwa Eid Naser just behind.

Through the final turn, both Paulino and Naser surged with textbook precision, but it was McLaughlin-Levrone’s day to dazzle. She crossed the finish line in a staggering 47.78 seconds. Marking her presence at the 400m, it was a phenomenal world debut for her, but is she done with 400mH considering the fact that she is the new 400m champion now? Certainly not.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone is not done with hurdles

With the all-time women’s world leading no.1 ranking in 400m hurdles (50.37), Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone stands at the pinnacle of the 400mH discipline. And, calling McLaughlin-Levrone a force in the 400m hurdles barely scratches the surface. Over her career, she has smashed the world record six times, including at Tokyo 2021 and the Paris 2024 Olympics. Though her trophy cabinet is shining with multiple victories, the athlete is not done with the hurdles.

“I’m not fully content there either,” the New Jersey native said. “I definitely want to take a moment just to enjoy, breathe, and take some time off. We take around four to six weeks of just downtime and then assess, ‘When do we really want to start slowly progressing back?’ Freedom is the relaxation for me.” Dominating every competition she enters, Sydney has consistently won an array of golds in her signature event (including two of her four Olympic golds), but she still looks forward to chase more.

Already hailed as the queen of hurdles, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone has achieved monumental success—but is she satisfied? For now, the answer is a resounding no, and her sights are firmly set on breaking the 400m world record next.