Disappointing Attendance For Sydney McLaughlin’s Comeback, Irks Weeping Tara Davis: “Should Be Packed”

Sydney McLaughlin has once again proved that she is the queen of the 400m hurdles at the moment. Having already clinched a couple of Olympic gold back in 2020, McLaughlin still seems to be hungry for more. While she has participated in the 100m and 200m disciplines too, McLaughlin seems more at ease in the 400m hurdles. Even before her Olympic triumph, the athlete had an array of accolades to boast about. She won the 2022 World Championships as well as the 2019 Diamond League. 

And now, appearing for her season opener at the 2024 Edwin Moses Legends Meet, McLaughlin had her stamp of authority all over the place. She came, she saw, she conquered. After her emphatic victory, congratulatory messages began to flood her DMs. However, amidst all the glitz, Tara Davis Woodhall had a reason to be unhappy about. 

Tara Davis Woodhall urges fans to usher support for Sydney McLaughlin

Sydney McLaughlin is well on course for her Paris dreams. She clocked a healthy 52.70s in her first appearance to come under the entry standards set for the Olympics in 2024. Her time also qualified as the world’s lead at the moment. Looking at her incredible comfort on the tracks, Tara Davis Woodhall could not help but marvel. 

Taking to her X account, Woodhall posted, “watching syd finish that race brought ACTUAL tears to my eyes. i’m so proud of her ✨ welcome back.” However, she also found the stands to be a bit empty and thus, urged the fans to fill in and cheer for an icon like Sydney McLaughlin. Woodhall stated, “i’m sorry but those stands should be PACKED you have T&F LEGENDS at that meet.” 

After the win, a resilient McLaughlin sounded critical of her performance as she said, “We haven’t had much hurdle practice, so there’s a lot to improve.” Surely, the vision of improvement after scoring a world lead only shows the legendary mindset McLaughlin has. After all, she does find the 400m hurdles category easy! McLaughlin will be appearing for the US Team Trials next. The trials are scheduled for June 21-30 in Eugene, and McLaughlin is expected to have no trouble securing her spot in Paris.

McLaughlin reveals her favorite Track and Field category 

During the pre-event presser for the Edwin Moses Legends Meet, the interviewer asked McLaughlin about her opinions on the 400m hurdles and 400m open. In what was a surprising answer, McLaughlin ranked the 400m open as the hardest event between the two. She said, “I think. I think the open four actually hurts more than 400 hurdles, in my personal opinion.” 

The athlete further elaborated that running 400m at a stretch was too much to ask from an athlete. On the contrary, the hurdles took the boredom out and kept the mind busy tricking it into realizing the actual length of the race. Thus, with a fabulous season opener checked, all eyes will be on Sydney McLaughlin’s trials while the road to Paris comes closer.