Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone eases into 400m hurdles final at U.S. Olympic Team Trials; Dalilah Muhammad, too

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone set a world lead time in the semi-finals.

She said she plans to “let it fly” in Sunday’s (29 June) final.

The reigning Olympic champion and world record holder, McLaughlin-Levrone cruised to a 52.48 on Saturday at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – track & field at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, going 0.01 seconds faster than rival Femke Bol’s 52.49 at the European Championships a couple of weeks ago.

McLaughlin-Levrone was untroubled by Rio 2016 champion Dalilah Muhammad in their heat, with both women automatically qualifying for the final, with Muhammad second at 54.16.

“[Today] I just focused on getting out, feeling the backstretch and getting ready for the final tomorrow,” she told NBC. “[It was about] just qualifying through the rounds.

“[I’m] letting it fly tomorrow.”

Anna Cockrell had the second-fastest time of the day, clocking a 52.95. Shamier Little (53.49), Jasmine Jones (53.66) and Rachel Glenn (53.68) were 3-4-5 ahead of Muhammad on time.

The women’s 400m hurdle final is Sunday at 17:29 PDT (local) time, with one race between McLaughlin-Levrone and the Olympic Games Paris 2024.

You can see a full list of qualifiers here.