RHASIDAT ADELEKE’S COMPETITION at 400 metres has become even more intense as Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone has announced she will run the 200m and 400m events at the Diamond League final later this month.
McLaughlin-Levrone is the dominant athlete at the 400m hurdles, successfully defending her Olympic title in Paris last month by lowering her own world record to 50.37. She also won gold with the USA in the 4x400m relay, splitting 47.71, the fourth-fastest split time in the history of the Games.
McLaughlin-Levrone has now confirmed she will chase a unique double in the 200m and 400m flat events at the Diamond League final in Brussels on 13 and 14 September, in what will be her fist competitive outing since the Paris Games. She has qualified courtesy of a wildcard. McLaughlin-Lavrone has given no indication she intends to focus on the 400m flat beyond this meet, and ahead of the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo next September.
Though McLaughlin-Levrone has prioritised hurdles, she ran the 400m flat in July of last year, clocking 48.74, the second-fastest time in American history and the 12th-fastest global time ever.
Rhasidat Adeleke has already booked her place in the 400m final in Brussels, where along with the new challenge of McLaughlin-Levrone, she will be reunited with familiar faces, as the trio of athletes who finished ahead of her in last month’s Olympic final – Marileidy Paulino, Salwa Eid-Naser, and Natalia Kaczmarek - have all qualified too.
The 400m final is slated for 13 September.
