Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone made a world-leading effort visual easy, guaranteeing a spot on Sunday Final of the 400 meter hurdles at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials and leading what could be one of America’s strongest events in Paris.
McLaughlin-Levrone, the current gold medalist and number 1 in the world barely, sweated it out in the semifinals on Saturday with a 52.48-second effort to advance to what promises to be a sizzling final on Sunday at Hayward Stadium in Eugene, Oregon.
A calm-tempered McLaughlin-Levrone vowed to ‘let it fly’ last event of this meetingset for 8:29 p.m. ET.
She will certainly be pushed by Anna Cockrell, who clocked a personal best of 52.95 in the semi-finals to book her place in the final.
In contrast to McLaughlin-Levrone’s professional demeanor, Cockrell could not contain his joy at breaking the 53-second mark for the first time.
“That means I’m ready,” she said. “It tells me that what we’ve been working towards in the past is working. I’m satisfied, I’m satisfied.”
The powerful field in Sunday’s final also includes Tokyo silver medalist Dalilah Muhammad and Shamier Little who won his heat on Saturday.
Tokyo silver medalist Keni Harrison Rio silver medalist, Nia Ali and Alaysha Johnson, who recorded a semifinal best time of 12.36 seconds, will compete in the women’s 100 meter hurdles at 8 p.m.
Rai Benjamin, who won silver in Tokyo, and CJ Allen will run the men’s 400 meter hurdles at 8:20 p.m. They achieved the two best times in the semi-final – 47.97 seconds and 48.16 seconds respectively.
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