Sydney McLaughlin

Sydney McLaughlin is considered one of the greatest hurdlers in the world. McLaughlin holds the women’s 400 meter hurdles world record with a time of 50.68 seconds which she earned at the World Athletics Championships located in Eugene, Oregon in July 2022. To add to the awe of McLaughlin’s accomplishments, you only need to ask whose world record she beat . . . McLaughlin smashed her own previous world records on four different occasions in a little over a year.

McLaughlin’s honors include winning a gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics for the 400 meter hurdles. She also took home a second gold medal in Tokyo for the 4×400 meter relay. Although she is only 23 years old, McLaughlin is a two-time Olympian who also competed in the 2016 Summer Games in Rio at age 16, which made her the youngest American track and field athlete to compete at the Olympics since the 1970s.

McLaughlin comes from a family of runners so it was no surprise that she demonstrated natural talent on the track. Both of her parents were successful runners. Her dad, Willie Mclaughlin even ran the 400 meter relay at the 1984 Olympic trials. Additionally, Sydney Mclaughlin has three siblings. All of whom had impressive high school and college running careers. At age 6, Mclaughlin won her first race for the 100 meter sprint and her parents rewarded her with a chocolate bar. After that, she kept trying new events and the records began piling up. During her time at Union Catholic High School in New Jersey, McLaughlin set 23 school records for track. After graduating high school in 2017, she chose to run for the University of Kentucky where she was able to experience college life and gain independence instead of going pro straight out of high school. When Mclaughlin finished her first year of college, she became a professional athlete. The key to being a successful hurdler is mastering the proper form. McLaughlin has great hurdling form and an amazing natural talent that makes her the best in the world. Every hurdler aspires to have technique just like her. She keeps shocking the track and field world with her exceptional performances. If her results this summer are any indicator, McLaughlin will continue to dominate in future races.