Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone recently shared her thoughts on the perfect race in her competitive career. The American sprinter and hurdler impressed in the 2025 season by winning the gold medal in the 400m flat at the World Athletics Championships 2025, an event she had only switched to this year after dominating the 400m hurdles for years.
At the World Championships, McLaughlin-Levrone clocked the second-fastest time ever recorded in the 400m flat finals with a 47.78s run, thus breaking below the 48s barrier for the first time in 40 years. She now trails behind East Germany’s Marita Koch, who recorded a time of 47.60s in 1985.
What Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone Says About Her Idea of a Perfect Race
A few days ago, McLaughlin-Levrone featured in a first-time collaboration between two leading brands, New Balance and TAG Heuer, appearing in their latest ad. Following this, in a recent interview with Vanity Fair, she was asked what she considered a perfect race.
The 400m hurdles world record holder, who has broken her own record six times, acknowledged that a perfect race doesn’t truly exist for her, adding that she enjoys competing in a variety of events.
“I don’t think it exists. Maybe the one where you make the world record. I love all races, the 200 and 400 meters, and the obstacles. ” I would say the 400 obstacles are my favourite race,” she said, before dropping a bombshell: “I don’t think I’ve done the perfect race yet.” I know I can do better in my speed, in my strength, in my obstacle jumping technique. I haven’t done the perfect race yet.”
In the same interview, the 26-year-old also discussed her upcoming goals, having already accomplished multiple feats and being nominated for the World Athletics Track Athlete of the Year in the female category for her brilliant display of athleticism this season. On the next goals she planned to target, McLaughlin-Levrone said:
“There is still so much to do. I would like to get to 49 seconds in the 400 hurdles and aim for the world record in the 400 meters. There will come time to make decisions, but there is certainly a lot to work on.”
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Notably, at the season-ending World Championships, she capped off her campaign by anchoring Team USA to a gold medal in the women’s 4x400m relay. With that, she took her World Championships gold medal tally to five, having won two golds earlier in the 2022 edition and one in 2019. She also has a silver from her 400m hurdles race at the Doha World Championships in 2019.
McLaughlin-Levrone Keeps Fans Guessing on Potential 800m Debut
Following her World Championships triumph in the 400m, McLaughlin-Levrone was asked about the possibility of competing in the 800m, an event that spans two full laps and one that World Athletics President Sebastian Coe expressed interest in seeing her attempt.
When questioned about her plans for the 800m in a post-race interview, she simply smiled and replied:
“No comment. Thanks, everybody.”
It is worth noting that Coe specialized in middle-distance running, competing in the 800m and 1500m events during his athletics career. He also won two Olympic golds in the 1500m and two silvers in the 800m at the 1980 and 1984 Games.