"Gonna be a bloodbath"- Fans react as Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone sets up 400m clash with Salwa Eid Naser & Marileidy Paulino after dominant Worlds show

The track and field community was left in awe as Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone clocked a world-leading time in the 400m on the fourth day of the World Athletics Championships 2025. In the third semifinal of the women's 400m event, McLaughlin-Levrone stepped up and clocked 48.29 seconds.

Notably, this time was also the American athlete's personal best time over this distance and the seventh fastest of all time. This result was not only a semifinal victory for McLaughlin-Levrone, but also a statement to the firm favorites Marileidy Paulino and Salwa Eid Naser ahead of the final.

Reacting to this staggering performance, one fan heaped praise on McLaughlin-Levrone for breaking Sanya Richard-Ross' American record (48.70 seconds) in this event. The fan wrote on X:

"She said I’m too tired of winning the 400mH so lemme do the 400 flat and goes on to break the American record….. 48.29s!!!!!!!"

Another fan expressed excitement for the battle between McLaughlin-Levrone and Eid Naser in the finals and remarked:

"Ohhh it’s gonna be a bloodbath!! Naser is gonna run the first 300 in 10 seconds." "Seems we are headed for a generational race on Thursday. Hope everyone gets lots of sleep and good hydration," stated another fan.

Here are a few other reactions:

"Jesus christ man. This woman is absolutely insane at track and field bro," wrote a fan. "It only took a year for her to break Sanya’s record 😳😳," added another. "The lady got bored of dominating one event and switched to another, Christ," chimed another netizen.

Notably, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Marileidy Paulino, and Salwa Eid Naser will be seen competing against each other on Thursday, September 18, with the world title on the line. Paulino and Naser have already won the 400m world title in their career, while McLaughlin-Levrone is chasing her first gold in the event after winning the 400m hurdles title in 2022.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone made her feelings known after shattering the 400m American record at the World Championships 2025

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (Image via: Getty)

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone expressed her emotions after her semifinal performance at the World Athletics Championships 2025. After her race, McLaughlin-Levrone shared that she was honored to have broken Sanya Richards-Ross' American record.

McLaughlin-Levrone also mentioned that this performance also illustrated a lot about her fitness on the track. She said (via Citius Mag):

"Honored for sure. Definitely wasn't expecting that time, but it just shows the fitness is there, excited for the finals, and grateful to have taken down a record by an amazing woman." (00:04 onwards)

During the conversation, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone also remarked that she didn't expect this kind of performance from herself and was surprised with the time.

Edited by Tushar Bahl