McLaughlin-Levrone sends pre-Olympic jolt, runs 50.65 to break world record (again) in 400 hurdles

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — For the better part of two years, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone all but disappeared from the 400-meter hurdles course.

Turns out, she wasn't hiding or looking for something else to do. Just getting better at what she does best.

The 24-year-old Olympic champion lowered the world record for the fifth time Sunday, closing out U.S. Olympic trials with 10 leaps over the barriers, then an all-out sprint toward the finish line in 50.65 seconds. She broke her last record by .03 seconds.

This one came on the last day of trials at Hayward Field. Her first record came back in 2021 — also on the last day of trials and also at Hayward Field.

In fact, this marked the fourth of her five world records she's set on the track at the University of Oregon, which has hosted the lion's share of American track's greatest moments over the past quarter century.

To say she expected this, though, would not be the case.

“Just shock. Honestly shock,” said McLaughlin-Levrone, who covered her mouth in amazement when she crossed and saw the time. “I know when it first came up it said, ‘50.67.’ I was like, ‘There’s just no way.’"

Then, the clock adjusted down two ticks.

“I wasn’t expecting that time,” she said.

Counting the two preliminary rounds at trials this week, this was only McLaughlin-Levrone's fourth 400-meter hurdles race of the season. Unlike other times when she's taken the track, there wasn't a huge amount of buzz about her mark of 50.68 — set at world championships in 2022, also here at Hayward — going down this time.

A closer look shows this was all simply part of the plan.

She spent her time working on the shorter hurdles, along with 200- and 400-meter sprints, both of which she had hinted might be in her future as her main event. Really, what all those races were doing were making her better at her main job. All of them are good for speed. The short hurdles helped her master the difficult art of jumping off either foot.

“She ran in Atlanta, and she was having problems attacking the hurdles and getting her steps together" because of all her newfound speed, hurdling great Edwin Moses said of McLaughlin-Levrone's first 400-hurdles race of 2024. “I told her I'd had similar problems and that her brain just had to catch up with her physicality.”

It did, and in an event that used to be decided by steps or slivers, McLaughlin-Levrone’s victory came by 1.99 seconds over Anna Cockrell and 2.12 over Jasmine Jones.

“She's really fast and she's really strong, it's hard to put it any other way,” Cockrell said.

The latest record doesn’t so much reset the storyline for the Olympics — McLaughlin-Levrone would’ve been the big-time favorite either way — as it forces track to once again rethink what’s possible.

Now, instead of a much-anticipated showdown with Femke Bol of the Netherlands, the conversation will turn to when the 50-second mark might come tumbling down in this race. Maybe as soon as Aug. 8, which is the date of the Olympic final in Paris.

“It could happen,” Moses said. “She might need a couple more races, but that’s about it.”

It's been a remarkable journey that has happened remarkably fast.

From 2003-19, the world record in this event stayed stuck at 52.34. American Dalilah Muhammad broke it twice in 2019 — the second time at world championships in a race that demoralized McLaughlin-Levrone and sparked her move over to coach Bobby Kersee.

Kersee changed everything for her. One of the biggest adjustments was dropping her to 14 strides between the early hurdles. It was a game-changer that has put her in a class by herself but also forced her to rework her takeoffs, which is where the work on the short hurdles has helped.

“I’ve said it before, (she) just ran a world record and it’s like we’re not even shocked at this point,” said Muhammad, the 2016 Olympic champion who finished sixth Sunday. “She’s just an amazing talent, a generational talent for sure. I didn’t know I’m the only one to beat her, so kudos to me.”

In addition to leaving trials with the world record in hurdles, she's also the world leader this year in the flat 400.

McLaughlin-Levrone ran 48.75 in New York at the start of June — just more speed work, but also a daunting sign for any country that hopes to challenge the U.S. in the 4x400 relay come Paris.

McLaughlin-Levrone started running all those 400s and 200s shortly after the close of world championships in 2022 in Eugene, the time she lowered the world record to 50.68.

At the time, she hinted that all those races might be the future for her. Not until a few weeks ago did she say she was going back to her first love.

Then, on a calm night in Oregon, she pulled down the curtain on the 2024 Olympic trials, and threw a little jolt into track at the same time: All those other races weren't just for kicks.

“The 400 hurdles is a mixture of all of it,” she said. “It's the short hurdles combined with the 4, combined with the 2. You need that endurance, that speed and that technicality. So those were definitely just building blocks along the way to get us through.”

AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone bites down on her gold medal after winning the women's 400-meter hurdles final during the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Team Trials, Sunday, June 30, 2024, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone reacts to winning the women's 400-meter hurdles final during the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Team Trials, Sunday, June 30, 2024, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

First place winner Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, left, second place Anna Cockrell, right, and third place Jasmine Jones pose fopr a photo after the women's 400-meter hurdles final during the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Team Trials, Sunday, June 30, 2024, in Eugene, Ore.(AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Rai Benjamin, left, speaks with Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone during the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Team Trials, Sunday, June 30, 2024, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone wins the women's 400-meter hurdles final during the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Team Trials, Sunday, June 30, 2024, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone wins the women's 400-meter hurdles final during the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Team Trials, Sunday, June 30, 2024, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone reacts to winning the women's 400-meter hurdles final during the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Team Trials, Sunday, June 30, 2024, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone reacts to winning the women's 400-meter hurdles final during the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Team Trials, Sunday, June 30, 2024, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone reacts to winning the women's 400-meter hurdles final during the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Team Trials, Sunday, June 30, 2024, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone poses for a photo after winning the women's 400-meter hurdles final during the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Team Trials, Sunday, June 30, 2024, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — Hurricane Beryl was roaring toward Jamaica on Wednesday, with islanders scrambling to make preparations after the powerful Category 4 storm earlier killed at least six people and caused significant damage in the southeast Caribbean.

In Kingston, people boarded up windows, fishermen pulled their boats out of the water before sitting around a table to play dominoes beside a bay, and workers dismantled roadside advertising boards to protect them from the expected lashing winds to come.

A hurricane warning was in effect for Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Little Cayman and Cayman Brac. Beryl was forecast to weaken slightly over the next day or two, but still be at or near major-hurricane strength when it passes near or over Jamaica on Wednesday, near the Cayman Islands on Thursday and into Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on Friday, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.

A hurricane watch was in effect for Haiti's southern coast and the Yucatan’s east coast. Belize issued a tropical storm watch stretching south from its border with Mexico to Belize City.

Late Monday, Beryl became the earliest storm to develop into a Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic and peaked at winds of 165 mph (270 kph) Tuesday before weakening to a still-destructive Category 4. Early Wednesday, the storm was about 125 miles (200 kilometers) southeast of Kingston. It had maximum sustained winds of 145 mph (230 kph) and was moving west-northwest at 20 mph (31 kph), the center said.

Beryl was expected to bring life-threatening winds and storm surge to Jamaica, where officials warned residents in flood-prone areas to prepare for evacuation.

“I am encouraging all Jamaicans to take the hurricane as a serious threat,” Prime Minister Andrew Holness said in a public address Tuesday. “It is, however, not a time to panic.”

In Miami, U.S. National Hurricane Center Director Michael Brennan said Jamaica appears to be in the direct path of Beryl. He urged residents to find a safe place to shelter and stay there through Wednesday.

“We are most concerned about Jamaica, where we are expecting the core of a major hurricane to pass near or over the island,” he said in an online briefing.

Storm surge of 6-9 feet (1.8 to 2.7 meters) above typical tide levels are likely in Jamaica, as well as heavy rainfall.

A tropical storm warning was in place for the entire southern coast of Hispaniola, an island shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

As Beryl barreled through the Caribbean Sea, rescue crews in southeastern islands fanned out to determine the extent of the damage the hurricane inflicted on Carriacou, an island in Grenada.

Three people were reported killed in Grenada and Carriacou and another in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, officials said. Two other deaths were reported in northern Venezuela, where five people are missing, officials said. About 25,000 people in that area also were affected by heavy rainfall from Beryl.

One fatality in Grenada occurred after a tree fell on a house, Kerryne James, the environment minister, told The Associated Press. She said Carriacou and Petit Martinique sustained the greatest damage, with scores of homes and businesses flattened in Carriacou.

Grenada's prime minister, Dickon Mitchell, said Tuesday there was no power, roads are impassable and the possible rise of the death toll “remains a grim reality.”

St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves has promised to rebuild the archipelago. He noted that 90% of homes on Union Island were destroyed, and that “similar levels of devastation” were expected on the islands of Myreau and Canouan.

The last strong hurricane to hit the southeast Caribbean was Hurricane Ivan 20 years ago, which killed dozens of people in Grenada.

Grenada, known as the “spice isle,” is one of the world's top exporters of nutmeg. Mitchell noted that the bulk of the spices are grown in the northern part of the island, which was hit hardest by Beryl.

A man covers the windows of a building to protect it from the incoming Hurricane Beryl in Kingston, Jamaica, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Collin Reid)

Workers chops a tree uprooted by Hurricane Beryl in St. James, Barbados, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

Fishermen push a boat damaged by Hurricane Beryl at the Bridgetown fisheries, Barbados, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

Palm trees wilt after being uprooted by Hurricane Beryl in St. Patrick, Grenada, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Haron Forteau)

Roofs of houses lie damaged by Hurricane Beryl in St. Patrick, Grenada, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Haron Forteau)

Evacuees from Union Island arrive in Kingstown, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. The island, in the Grenadines archipelago, was hit by Hurricane Beryl. (AP Photo/Lucanus Ollivierre)

Fishing boats lie in the middle of the street for protection from Hurricane Beryl in Kingston, Jamaica, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Collin Reid)

Workers dismantle an advertisement board to protect it from Hurricane Beryl in Kingston, Jamaica, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Collin Reid)

Fishermen play dominoes after pulling their boats out of the water to protect them from Hurricane Beryl in Kingston, Jamaica, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Collin Reid)