USA Track and Field Championships 2023: Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone wins first 400m national title with world lead time
The double Olympic champion ran a personal best 48.74, the fastest time in 2023
Athletics
Double Olympic champion Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone posted a 48.74 time to win the women's 400m title by more than a second Saturday (8 July) at the 2023 U.S. Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon. The time is the fastest of the year so far.
"The greats always push themselves, and I want to be one of them, so I have to push myself and get out of my comfort zone," McLaughlin told U.S. broadcaster NBC afterward. "I'm just happy to be here."
Arkansas' Britton Wilson was second at 49.79, followed by Talitha Diggs at 49.93. The three women will represent Team USA at next month's World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.
"I was definitely trying to run my race plan," said Wilson on NBC. "Not go out too fast, or too slow, and just execute what my coach wanted me to do and I think I did a good job of doing that today."
In Eugene, McLaughlin-Levrone, 23, had run times of 49.79 and 49.67 in the opening heats and semi-finals, respectively, to top the standings in each round. Her time in Saturday's final was just .04 off London 2012 gold medallist Sanya Richards-Ross' American record (48.70).
"I think I'm getting more used to it, the more I run it," said of her races at the championships. "I'm really happy with that time."
Although McLaughlin-Levrone has a wild card entry to next month’s global showpiece as the defending champion in the women's 400m hurdles, she is yet to race in her pet event in 2023.
McLaughlin-Levrone has instead focused on the flat 400m, further fueling speculation that she has her sights set on a tilt at the longest-standing world record in any men's or women's sprint event: Marita Koch’s 400m mark of 47.60 seconds, which has stood since 1985.
After taking her first 400m flat U.S. title, McLaughlin was coy with her plans for the Worlds.
"I have no idea," she said when asked what she would race in Budapest. "That's a great question. I have no idea, I have no clue."
How to watch the USA Track and Field Championships 2023
The whole event will be streamed live on pay services USATF.TV and Peacock TV with the latter available in a number of European countries.
The main action at the USATF Championships will be screened live on CNBC for viewers in the U.S., with two-hour nightly broadcasts from Friday 7 July.
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