UKTF Legend Sydney McLaughlin Breaks 400H World Record to Make U.S. Olympic Team
EUGENE, Oregon – Kentucky Track and Field legend Sydney McLaughlin broke the 400-meter hurdles world record winning in 51.90 seconds in a heat-delayed United States Olympic Team Trials final on Sunday at Hayward Field.
Running on the same ground where she made the 2016 Olympic Team as a high-school athlete and then won the NCAA 400H Title for Kentucky in 2018, McLaughlin became the first woman in history to break 52 seconds.
McLaughlin made her second U.S. Olympic Team. She reached the Olympic semifinal in 2016, and won the silver medal at the 2019 world championships, when Dalilah Muhammad – who was second on Sunday – set the previous world record at 52.16. McLaughlin helped lead the American team to gold in the 4×400-meter relay at Worlds in 2019 in Doha.
Sydney McLaughlin 400H World Record. Photo by Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
“I knew it was gonna be a fast race,” McLaughlin said. “Really great competition as always. My coach and I have been training for this. This is what our year has been about – just getting to this point. I think we really put it together today. Super grateful and happy to be the team and excited to see what happens in Tokyo.
“It’s one of those moments that you dream about, and you think about, and replay in your head. When you’re going to be able to put it together. I knew from the moment I woke up today that it was gonna be a great day. I think just trusting that process – it was just the final ‘I did it’ moment, and I’m gonna cherish it for the rest of my life.”
Three other Wildcats earned individual-event places on Team USA during the Trials – Javianne Oliver in the women’s 100m dash, Keni Harrison in the 100m hurdles and Daniel Roberts in the 110m hurdles. They will be joined at the Olympics by UK alumna Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, who will represent Puerto Rico in the 100m hurdles and Leah Nugent who made the Jamaican team in the 400m hurdles.
Adam Eberhardt for TrackTown USA
Sunday’s concluding session of the Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon, was postponed by over four hours because of extreme heat with daytime temperatures exceeding 100 degrees Fahrenheit and resumed at 8:30 p.m. local time.
At the British Athletics Championships, UK Class of 2018 and two-time NCAA Champion Tim Duckworth won the decathlon with a score of 7,447.
The 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo were postponed last year, but are still being known as the 2020 Olympics.
How to qualify for the Olympics
The top three finishers in each event, so long as they have the Olympic qualifying standard which was established by World Athletics months ago, will automatically earn spots on Team USA for the 2020 Summer Olympics to be held in in Tokyo in July-August 2021.
Olympic team trials and their equivalent meetings are taking place across the world in the coming days and weeks.
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U.S Olympic Teams Trials Schedule | All Times Pacific (local) and subject to change. |
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Day 1 – Friday, June 18, 2021 |
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Discus Throw |
Women |
Qualifying |
4. Micaela Hazlewood (Class of 2019): 195’11″/59.72m q |
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400m |
Women |
1st Round |
17. Chloe Abbott (Class of 2020): 52.52 |
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High Jump |
Women |
Qualifying |
Annika Williams (Scratched) |
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100m |
Women |
1st Round |
2. Javianne Oliver (Class of 2017): 10.96Q (+1.1) | PB 7. Dezerea Bryant (Class of 2015): 11.09 (+0.8) | SB |
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10,000m |
Men |
Final |
17. Jacob Thomson (Class of 2018): 28:42.08 |
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Day 2 – Saturday, June 19, 2021 |
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Javelin Throw |
Men |
Qualifying |
12. Ethan Shalaway (Class of 2018): 223’3″/68.04m q |
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Pole Vault |
Men |
Qualifying |
T1. Keaton Daniel: 18’6.5″/5.65m q |
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100m Hurdles |
Women |
1st Round |
1. Keni Harrison (Class of 2015/ UK Athletics HoF): 12.49Q (-0.3) 19. Masai Russell: 13.09 (+0.1) 26. Faith Ross: 13.32 (-0.3) |
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100m |
Men |
1st Round |
24. Lance Lang: 10.27 |
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100m |
Women |
Semi-Finals |
2. Javianne Oliver (Class of 2017): 10.83wQ (+2.3) 9. Dezerea Bryant (Class of 2015): 11.03w (+2.3) |
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Discus Throw |
Women |
Final |
2. Micaela Hazelwood: 205’2″/62.54m |
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100m |
Women |
Final |
2. Javianne Oliver (Class of 2017): 10.99 (-1.0), makes U.S. Olympic Team |
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Day 3 – Sunday, June 20, 2021 |
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100m Hurdles |
Women |
Semi-Finals |
2. Keni Harrison (Class of 2015/UK Athletics HoF): 12.50Q (+1.3) |
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3000m Steeplechase |
Women |
1st Round |
13. Katy Kunc (Class of 2018): 9:37.85q | Personal best |
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100m Hurdles |
Women |
Final |
1. Keni Harrison (Class of 2015/UK Athletics HoF): 12.47 (+0.8), makes U.S. Olympic Team |
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Day 4 – Monday, June 21, 2021 |
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Pole Vault |
Men |
Final |
8. Keaton Daniel: 18’8.25″/5.70m = PB, school record |
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Javelin Throw |
Men |
Final |
10. Ethan Shalaway (Class of 2017): 219’4″/66.86m |
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Day 7 – Thursday, June 24, 2021 |
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Pole Vault |
Women |
Qualifying |
T-7. Olivia Gruver (transferred to Washington for senior year): 14’9″/ 4.50 q |
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Long Jump |
Women |
Qualifying |
7. Sha’Keela Saunders (Class of 2018): 21’7.25″/6.58m (+0.6) 18. Kenyattia Hackworth (Class of 2015): 17’8.25″/ 5.39m (-0.3) |
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200m |
Women |
1st Round |
13. Dezerea Bryant (Class of 2015): 22.71Q |
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3000m Steeplechase |
Women |
Final |
14. Katy Kunc (Class of 2018): 9:47.82 |
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Day 8 – Friday, June 25, 2021 |
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110m Hurdles |
Men |
1st Round |
2. Daniel Roberts (2019): 13.22Q (+1.5) | season best 14. Tai Brown: 13.55Q (-0.2) 20. Nick Anderson (Class of 2016): 13.70 (-0.2) |
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400m Hurdles |
Women |
1st Round |
1. Sydney McLaughlin (2018): 54.07Q 9. Kiah Seymour (2016): 57.18Q 14. Masai Russell: 57.55q 25. Faith Ross: 58.99 |
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200m |
Women |
Semifinals |
6. Dezerea Bryant: 23.37Q (-0.3) | Season best |
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Day 9 – Saturday, June 26, 2021 |
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Pole Vault |
Women |
Final |
4. Olivia Gruver (2018, transferred to Washington): 15’1″/4.60m |
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110m Hurdles |
Men |
Semi-Finals |
4. Daniel Roberts (2019): 13.25Q (+1.2) 8. Tai Brown: 13.33q (+1.8) | PB |
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400m Hurdles |
Women |
Semi-Finals |
1. Sydney McLaughlin (2018): 53.03 Q 9. Kiah Seymour (Class of 2017): 55.84 12. Masai Russell: 58.00 |
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Long Jump |
Women |
Final |
6. Sha’Keela Saunders (Class of 2018): 22’0.25″/6.71 (+1.4) |
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200m |
Women |
Final |
6. Dezerea Bryant (Class of 2015): 22.24 (+1.3) | SB |
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110m Hurdles |
Men |
Final |
3. Daniel Roberts: 13.11 (+0.4), SB, makes U.S. Olympic Team |
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Day 10 – Sunday, June 27, 2021 |
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400m Hurdles |
Women |
Final |
1. Sydney McLaughlin: 51.90, WR, makes U.S. Olympic Team |
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