“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’d completed the 400m dash in just 48.74 seconds, making her a part of American history, she had also ended up missing a very crucial record by just some hundredth of a second. But now, 2 years later, in the same month of July, Sydney is returning to the same ground, Hayward Field, at Prefontaine tomorrow. Can she redeem that lost mark finally?
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. But now, the stakes have risen even higher as Sydney is just 0.04s away from yet another historic record in this category. Which one? We’ll tell you…
On July 4, FloTrack aired a discussion clip from their Prefontaine Classic preview. It specified that “Rumor has it that she 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.
This story is developing…
Are the rumors true?
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone has a PB of 48.74 just 0.04 off Sanya Richards-Ross’ American record of 48.70. Do you think Sydney’s about to make history?
Catch our full Prefontaine Classic preview now on The Meet Up on YouTube.#FloTrackMeetUp #Pre50… pic.twitter.com/vPqK4JWpE5
— FloTrack (@FloTrack) July 4, 2025
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