Her time of 50.37 in the Olympic final of the 400-metre hurdles in Paris earned Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone a formidable world record. Later, she also took gold with Team USA in the 4x400 metres. After the Games, she took her foot off the accelerator. “I went to Greece with my husband to relax for a week,” McLaughlin-Levrone says. “It was necessary after those fantastic Olympics, which I worked towards for so long. I feel enormously grateful for what I was able to experience in Paris. After that, we returned to Los Angeles. But because I still feel physically and mentally fresh, I wanted to run one more meeting to finish the season.”
And that meeting will be the Allianz Memorial Van Damme, where the organisers have scheduled an extra 200 and 400 metres for McLaughlin-Levrone. “I started my season this spring in the 200 and 400 metres and now I would like to finish with them as well, assess where I stand at those distances now, after having focused a whole year on the 400-metre hurdles. My goal is to improve my personal records.” That means running faster than 48.74 in the 400 metres on Friday and staying under 22.07 in the 200 metres on Saturday.
McLaughlin-Levrone also explained why she has not yet run outside the United States– except for the Paris Olympics - and has not yet performed in the Wanda Diamond League this year. “My season always revolves around the major championships, and I put together my programme with my coach Bob Kersee based on those. Additionally, I already have to be in top form at the US trials to be allowed to go to the Olympics at all. So, attending meetings in Europe in between is not obvious, transcontinental trips are quite tiring.”
But McLaughlin-Levrone is happy to make the trip to Brussels. “My coach has told me lots of good things about the Memorial. I'm really looking forward to giving my best here on Friday and Saturday and concluding my season in style. And of course, I've also heard about Belgian delicacies like waffles and chocolate. I definitely want to taste those! But I'm going to wait with that until after my races,” laughed the Paris double Olympic Champion.
Next year's World Championships in Tokyo will be the kingpin of the season. “The World Championships will take place in mid-September. Perhaps that will open up more opportunities to run in Europe, but we'll see,” McLaughlin-Levrone said. When asked if she will take part in Grand Slam Track, Michael Johnsons’ new track and field league, she replied in the affirmative. “It’s definitely on my programme. One of the meetings will take place in Los Angeles, my hometown, and also the 2028 Olympic Games host city. I absolutely want to be part of that. The atmosphere in Paris was indescribable. I am immensely looking forward to experiencing that in LA as well.”
Allianz Memorial Van Damme will exude Olympic Atmosphere
The Olympic atmosphere will also be palpable during the 48th Allianz Memorial Van Damme. The athletes on the list of participants account for more than 100 Olympic and Paralympic medals. And on Friday evening, during the opening ceremony, the Olympic and Paralympic athletes of Team Belgium will make a lap of honour and be celebrated.
70,000 tickets have already been sold for both nights, which means the Memorial breaks its own ticket record and that of all previous Wanda Diamond League finals. Nevertheless, tickets are still available in several categories.
