"There's always more that can be done"- Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone weighs in on pushing limits after after breaking the world record for the 6th time
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone spoke out on how she pushed herself to improve despite already achieving a lot. The American impressed at the Paris Olympics as she broke her own 400m hurdles record.
She competed in her third edition of the Olympics after setting a new world record of 50,65 seconds at the US Olympic Trials, thus marking the fifth time she broke her own record. McLaughlin-Levrone clocked 50.37s in the 400m hurdles and added another gold in the 4x400m relay to end her Paris Olympic campaign on a successful note.
The 25-year-old has not lost a single 400m hurdles race since the 2019 World Championships and said that the reason behind getting better was knowing that she could always improve.
"I think the fact that there's always more that can be done. You know, there's always ways to improve," she said as quoted by Olympics.com. "I love trying to figure out what those are and push myself to try to break those barriers and boundaries."
In the wake of injuries, the 25-year-old missed out on a significant number of races in 2023, including the World Athletics Championships. Coming into Paris, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone struck out 400m flat to focus on the hurdles. She said that the barriers on the track motivate her to work on something that the flat races don't.
"The open 400 is just a full-on sprint. But at least with the hurdles, I can think about something and have to work [on it]. There's certain things that kind of just distract you from the fact that you're running a 400. And I think that's why I love the hurdles," she added. (via Olympics.com)
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone said it would be an honor to represent Team USA in the LA Olympics 2028
After Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone's Olympic success, she has no distinct plans in foresight but will be honored to represent Team USA at the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
"I mean, I don't know what the future holds. don't know what's in the cards for me, but bringing the Games back to the United States is going to be special in and of itself. And so, whether it's the 400 hurdles or any other event, it just would be an honour to compete for USA," she said. (via Olympics.com)
The American became the first woman to break four records in 13 months (2021-22) and the first 400m hurdler to run below 52s and 51s.