Track & Field
UKTF Legend Sydney McLaughlin Breaks 400H World Record to Make U.S. Olympic Team

UKTF Legend Sydney McLaughlin Breaks 400H World Record to Make U.S. Olympic Team

by Jake Most

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
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.

 
McLaughlin Medal Stand
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.
 

U.S Olympic Teams Trials Schedule | All Times Pacific (local) and subject to change.

Day 1 – Friday, June 18, 2021

Discus Throw

Women

Qualifying

4. Micaela Hazlewood (Class of 2019): 195’11″/59.72m q

400m

Women

1st Round

17. Chloe Abbott (Class of 2020): 52.52

High Jump

Women

Qualifying

Annika Williams (Scratched)

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

10,000m

Men

Final

17. Jacob Thomson (Class of 2018): 28:42.08

Day 2 – Saturday, June 19, 2021

Javelin Throw

Men

Qualifying

12. Ethan Shalaway (Class of 2018): 223’3″/68.04m q

Pole Vault

Men

Qualifying

T1. Keaton Daniel: 18’6.5″/5.65m q

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)

100m

Men

1st Round

24. Lance Lang: 10.27

100m

Women

Semi-Finals

2. Javianne Oliver (Class of 2017): 10.83wQ (+2.3)

9. Dezerea Bryant (Class of 2015): 11.03w (+2.3)

Discus Throw

Women

Final

2. Micaela Hazelwood: 205’2″/62.54m

100m

Women

Final

2. Javianne Oliver (Class of 2017): 10.99 (-1.0), makes U.S. Olympic Team

Day 3 – Sunday, June 20, 2021

100m Hurdles

Women

Semi-Finals

2. Keni Harrison (Class of 2015/UK Athletics HoF): 12.50Q (+1.3)

3000m Steeplechase

Women

1st Round

13. Katy Kunc (Class of 2018): 9:37.85q | Personal best

100m Hurdles

Women

Final

1. Keni Harrison (Class of 2015/UK Athletics HoF): 12.47 (+0.8), makes U.S. Olympic Team

Day 4 – Monday, June 21, 2021

Pole Vault

Men

Final

8. Keaton Daniel: 18’8.25″/5.70m = PB, school record

Javelin Throw

Men

Final

10. Ethan Shalaway (Class of 2017): 219’4″/66.86m

Day 7 – Thursday, June 24, 2021

Pole Vault

Women

Qualifying

T-7. Olivia Gruver (transferred to Washington for senior year): 14’9″/ 4.50 q

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)

200m

Women

1st Round

13. Dezerea Bryant (Class of 2015): 22.71Q

3000m Steeplechase

Women

Final

14. Katy Kunc (Class of 2018): 9:47.82

Day 8 – Friday, June 25, 2021

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)

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

200m

Women

Semifinals

6. Dezerea Bryant: 23.37Q (-0.3) | Season best

 Day 9 – Saturday, June 26, 2021

Pole Vault

Women

Final

4. Olivia Gruver (2018, transferred to Washington): 15’1″/4.60m

110m Hurdles

Men

Semi-Finals

4. Daniel Roberts (2019): 13.25Q (+1.2)

8. Tai Brown: 13.33q (+1.8) | PB

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

Long Jump

Women

Final

6. Sha’Keela Saunders (Class of 2018): 22’0.25″/6.71 (+1.4)

200m

Women

Final

6. Dezerea Bryant (Class of 2015): 22.24 (+1.3) | SB

110m Hurdles

Men

Final

3. Daniel Roberts: 13.11 (+0.4), SB, makes U.S. Olympic Team

Day 10 – Sunday, June 27, 2021

400m Hurdles

Women

Final

1. Sydney McLaughlin: 51.90, WR, makes U.S. Olympic Team


Follow along with the Cats on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and at UKathletics.com.
 
 

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