Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone will attack the world record at 400m already in the Paris Diamond League.
“I am capable of improving the world record in the 400m”, said the American athlete Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, who will make her Diamond League debut in Paris starting tomorrow. “I don’t know if this will happen and when exactly it will happen. The goal in front of me is to work every day to get better. I have not yet decided on my program for the World Championships in Budapest in August”, added the American athlete
The Olympic champion in the 400m hurdles has also set her sights on the German Marita Koch’s record (47.60 sec), which dates back to 1985.
“The difference between the 400m hurdles and the 400m is about 3 sec. But it’s not automatic to clear the ten hurdles. To run in 47 seconds you have to be very strong, you have to keep the rhythm. In training I start to understand the difference between runs, which require different energies”, said Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone. “To set a world record, you have to squeeze everything out of your body. That’s what I did every day in training – physically and psychologically. You have to put all the pieces of the puzzle together at the exact moment. I suffered, it was hard, but it was worth it. That didn’t happen happens every day”, added she.
“I wanted to come to Paris, a year before the Olympic Games. This will help me feel the atmosphere of the city”, concluded Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone.