Can Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone achieve a golden double at the Los Angeles Olympics? All about the schedule of women's 400m and the 400m hurdles

Can Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone recreate history at the Los Angeles Olympics? Can the world record holder athlete win Olympic gold medals in both the women's 400m and the women's 400m hurdles?

These are some of the questions that have been raised by several sports buffs after the athlete's incredible performance at the World Championships in Tokyo. However, a close look at the proposed schedule for the Los Angeles Olympics and one will learn that the task is easier said than done. In a rare moment, athletics and swimming have been swapped with each other. This means that the final Olympic champions will be announced for the swimming events before the closing ceremony, and not in athletics, as is the traditional norm.

But how is this related to Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone's plans for the Los Angeles Olympics? According to the proposed schedule, the women's 400m and the women's 400m hurdles events will take place between July 15 and July 22. The bone of contention is July 20, when the semifinals of the women's 400m hurdles, as well as the final of the women's 400m, will take place simultaneously in the evening session.

So if Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone is actually aiming for the historic golden double, she will have to give the performance of a lifetime, as well as maintain her stamina throughout the evening session.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone's performance at the Olympics

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone at the Paris Olympics [Image Source: Getty]

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone has become one of the most promising track and field athletes with an impressive track record. However, the journey to the top was anything but a bed of roses.

McLaughlin-Levrone had made her Olympic debut at the quadrennial event in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. The Olympic champion sprinter was barely 17 years old at that time and was equally nervous. Though she qualified for the semifinals of women's 400m hurdles, the American hurdler couldn't progress beyond it.

At the Tokyo Olympics [delayed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic] held in 2021, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone had transformed by leaps and bounds. Not only did she clinch the Olympic gold medal in the women's 400m hurdles, but she also established a new world record of 51.46 seconds, breaking her own previous world record of 51.90 seconds set only months ago at the US Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone entered the Paris Olympics as a strong favorite. Everyone anticipated whether the Olympic champion would establish a new world record this time, and she did it in style. With a time of 50.37 seconds, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone established a new world record for the sixth consecutive time since 2021. McLaughlin-Levrone won a second consecutive golden double at the Paris Olympics by winning the women's 4x400m relay gold medal as well.

Edited by Animesh Pandey