Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Savannah Sutherland; All sources - Getty

After breaking Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone's record, 21-year-old Savannah Sutherland reveals secret behind achievement

Modified Jun 16, 2025 06:41 GMT

Savannah Sutherland expressed how she manifested her record-breaking feat after she broke Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone's 400m hurdles collegiate record at the 2025 NCAA Track and Field Championships. Sutherland also broke the NCAA, NCAA Championships meet, and Canadian National records with her latest effort.

Savannah Sutherland, who competes at the NCAA level for Michigan, was a force to be reckoned with on the final day of the NCAA DI Track and Field Championships. On June 14, the 21-year-old clocked a stellar 52.46s to outpace Texan athlete, Akala Garrett, and Michelle Smith. Sutherland's last national record time was 53.26, which she set in June 2024.

Sutherland, after breaking the 400m world record holder's collegiate record, expressed that she manifested the win since February this year and focused on achieving the goal throughout the season.

"I kind of alluded it to it before but um back in February I wrote on the whiteboard in my room 52.70 and so every morning I woke up and I looked at it and I knew that was what it was going to take to break the collegiate record and that was a goal for me throughout the season so I definitely manifested it as much as possible this year," she said in a post-race interview. (2:42 onwards)

Savannah Sutherland shared the 400m hurdles line-up with Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Though the former recorded the fourth-fastest time in the semi-final heat, she finished seventh in the 400m hurdles finals in her debut Games appearance. She became the first Canadian woman to compete in the event since Rosey Edeh in 1996.

Savannah Sutherland revealed that breaking Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone's record was a 'full circle' moment for her

Sutherland at 2023 NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Outdoor Track & Field Championship - (Source: Getty)

Savannah Sutherland started her career in 2019, winning silver in the 100m hurdles and bronze in the 200m flat at the Canadian under-20 National Championships. She has forged success in track and field much later than Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, but has always looked up to the latter throughout her career.

In a post-race interview, Sutherland shared that eclipsing the four-time Olympic gold medalist's record was a full-circle moment for her.

"I grew up looking up to Sydney and so I was able to meet her this summer, running in the Olympic final, so it kind of felt full circle for me." (beginning 0:48)

Savanah Sutherland won bronze in the 400 hurdles at the 2021 World Athletics U20 Championships, setting a new personal best time of 57.27s.

About the author

Agnijeeta is a US Olympics journalist at Sportskeeda. She holds a Master’s degree in English and has worked as a school teacher, a blogger, a content writer and a sports writer over the past 5 years. A lover of high-adrenaline track and field events, she was also a sprinter during her school days.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone happens to be her favorite Olympian, and the athlete’s feat of breaking four records within 13 months inspires her, apart from the American's body language on and off the track. Grant Hackett swimming with a partially dysfunctional lung and winning gold in Athens is her all-time favorite Olympic moment.

Agnijeeta believes that deriving of unique angles from podcasts and interviews carried out by Olympics.com, along with hype-building of potential Olympic events on social media can help fill the coverage gap during the off season.

When not at her work desk, Agnijeeta likes to sing and paint. She also plays string instruments like guitar and ukulele and is an avid player of word puzzles.

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