Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone has officially landed in Miami for the second meet of Grand Slam Track. The American was crowned ‘Slam champion’ at the league’s inaugural meet last month, and will be eager to defend her title this time around.
Back in 2024, McLaughlin-Levrone was the first athlete to sign with GST, when the competition’s launch was announced by Michael Johnson. Fans were excited to see the 24-year-old come on board with the league, as it meant that they would get a chance to see her competing regularly outside of major events like the US National Trials, World Championships, and Olympic Games.
Now, as she gears up to compete at Grand Slam Track Miami, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone recently arrived in South Florida. The competition is slated to take place between May 2 and 4 at the Ansin Sports Complex in Miramar.
At the Miami edition of GST, McLaughlin-Levrone will be competing in the long hurdles event group, which features the 400m hurdles and 400m flat races. Joining her as ‘Racers’ on the track will be Shamier Little, Jasmine Jones, Rushell Clayton.
Adding to the competition will be the ‘Challengers’ featuring Anna Hall, Dalila Muhammad, Sarah Carli, Andrenette Knight, Cathelijn Peters, Shiann Salmon, Cassandra Tate, and Naomi Van den Broeck. While the field features some impressive runners, McLaughlin-Levroner remains an overwhelming favorite to win both the races.
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone hints at participating in different events at Grand Slam Track
At the debut meet of the Grand Slam Track that took place in Kingston last month, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone competed in the long hurdles event group. In the 400m hurdles event, the American clocked a 52.76s that placed her almost two seconds ahead of the entire field. In the 400m flat, the Olympic champion ran a 50.32s, once again finishing two seconds ahead of her competitors.
After dominating the field in Kingston, McLaughlin-Levrone revealed that she was considering switching events for the second half of the Grand Slam Track league, telling NBC,
“We’ve definitely talked about doing the [long sprints] in LA. Maybe even the 100 hurdles, 100 in Philly. We’ll see what happens.”
Fans will certainly be excited for Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone to explore new events, as it would prove to what extent her versatility on the track extends. If the world record holder opts for the long sprints event group, she’d have to go up against the likes of 200m Olympic champion Gabby Thomas and 400m Olympic champion Marileidy Paulino in their speciality events. Similarly, if she competed in the short hurdles event, she would be pitted against reigning 100m hurdles Olympic champion Masai Russell.
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Edited by Riddhi Acharya
