“That’s only the third American performer who has ever run under 49s...” were the commentator’s words as Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone crossed the finish line on July 8, 2023. While she had completed the 400m dash in just 48.74 seconds, the American record still belonged to Sanya Richards-Ross, set in 2006. The gap? A mere 0.04 seconds. Now, two years later and back at the same venue, McLaughlin-Levrone is set to make her Prefontaine Classic debut. The question remains: will she bridge this gap? There is an answer…

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone has all eyes on her tomorrow as she is not just returning to Hayward Field a year after the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials, but is making her Prefontaine Classic debut in the women’s 400m flat event. On the day, the stakes will be higher than ever. And the quiet whispers tell the kind of story that history is in the making.

On July 4, FloTrack aired a discussion clip from their Prefontaine Classic preview. It specified that “Rumor has it that she [Sydney] can easily come away with this American record that’s 48.70 held by Miss Sanya Richards Ross.” Yes, the women’s 400m flat American record is held by Sanya Richards-Ross, at 48.70, the one she set in 2006. In the past 19 years, no one has been able to obliterate it. The closest someone came was Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone herself in 2023, but she had missed it by just 0.04s. This is now raising speculation if McLaughlin-Levrone can break past it this time, as she is returning to that very ground, Hayward Field, where she came the closest to it.

A few feel that Sydney is now diverting all the energy that she intended to put into Grand Slam Track LA into Prefontaine after the former got canceled. “Yeah, I mean, yeah, we’ll say she’s channeling all that energy that she was going to funnel into LA Grand Slam and maybe she’s coming to make a statement, but yeah, I’d love to see it, so,” said one of the analysts on the Prefontaine preview. 

Well, realistically looking at the possibilities, here is what might go down in Eugene tomorrow. Some of Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone’s best 400m flat race times are from September 2024, at the Brussels Diamond League final invitational, where she clocked 49.11s. Before that, at the NYC Grand Prix, in June 2024, she ran a solid 48.75s time once again. So yes, she has that ability to shave off a few hundredths of seconds, as she has hovered quite close to the record time previously. But this is also true that McLaughlin-Levrone hasn’t tested herself in the distance in 10 months.

However, one positive that might assure many here is her 2025 form. Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone has run 2 400m flat races this year, both at different legs of the Grand Slam Track. In 50.32 seconds, she registered her first 400m win at GST Kingston, followed by yet another win at GST Miami in 49.69 seconds. Other than this, she has run a variety of distances this year, finishing on the podium in five out of six races. So yes, this surely will prove to be a boon when she gets ready for her Prefontaine debut. Also, the absence of pros like Salwa Eid Naser, Femke Bol, or Marileidy Paulino might give Sydney the edge to win the race.

But again, it’s going to take something special from McLaughlin-Levrone if she wants to break that 19-year-old record that Sanya Richards-Ross set. After all, she’ll be going up against her role model. Didn’t know this?

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone to challenge the record of someone who inspired her

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone has often credited Sanya Richards-Ross for inspiring her career in track and field. When SML was younger, she would watch Sanya Richards-Ross compete at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and that changed her entire perspective. Watching her on TV, Sydney turned to her mother and confessed that this is what she wanted to do. Want to know the exact words?

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone once confessed in a 2021 interview with Olympics.com that, “I distinctively remember watching in 2008 and seeing Sanya running and I remember turning to my mom, being like, ‘I want to do  that.’ And she was like ‘Ok, great.'” Well, this is how Sanya inspired America’s most successful hurdler to take up the sport and look where she is today!

There’s more that Sydney got inspired by. Looking at Sanya Richards-Ross, she even said, “I remember those moments just looking and seeing myself in that same position and wanting to be able to accomplish the things that some of these amazing woman have and just being able to have that opportunity to even possibly do that.” But now, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone is at that juncture where she has to go up against the record her idol set. Can she break it? Or will Sanya Richards-Ross continue to dominate for over two decades? Let us know below!