Sydney McLaughlin

Sydney McLaughlin
Personal information
Birth name Sydney Michelle McLaughlin
Born (1999-08-07) August 7, 1999
New Brunswick, New Jersey[1]
Residence Dunellen, New Jersey
Height 5 ft 9 in (175 cm)[1]
Weight 132 lb (60 kg)
Sport
Sport Track and field
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s) 400 m hurdles: 54.15 (2016) (WYB, WJR)
400 m: 51.84i (2016) (WYB)
60 m hurdles: 8.17i (2015)
Medal record
Track and field
Representing the  United States
World Youth Championships
2015 Cali 400 m hurdles

Sydney McLaughlin (born August 7, 1999) is an American hurdler and sprinter who competes for Union Catholic High School. McLaughlin holds a number of age group world bests and won the 2015–16 Gatorade National Girls Athlete of the Year trophy. She placed third in the 400-meter hurdles at the 2016 United States Olympic Trials, qualifying for the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Biography

McLaughlin belongs to an athletic family; her father Willie was a semi-finalist in the 400 meters at the 1984 Olympic Trials, her mother Mary was a runner in high school, and her older brother Taylor won silver in the 400-meter hurdles at the 2016 IAAF World U20 Championships.[2] A resident of Dunellen, New Jersey, she is a member of the class of 2017 at Union Catholic Regional High School in Scotch Plains, and has been successful academically.[2][3][4] McLaughlin took up running at an early age, following Taylor and their older sister Morgan.[2]

McLaughlin placed a close second behind Shamier Little in the 400-meter hurdles at the national junior (under-20) championships in 2014; her time of 55.63 was a national high school freshman record and a world age-14 best.[5][6] She would have qualified to represent the United States at the 2014 IAAF World Junior Championships, but was a year too young to be eligible.[7] McLaughlin also set a world age group best (13.34) in the 100-meter hurdles over 76.2 cm (2 ft 6 in) hurdles that summer.[6]

McLaughlin improved her 400-meter hurdles best to 55.28 at the 2015 national youth trials; the time was an age 15 world best, and ranked second on the all-time world youth list behind Leslie Maxie's world youth best (and national high school record) of 55.20 set in 1984.[7] She qualified for the 2015 IAAF World Youth Championships in Cali, Colombia, where she won gold in 55.94; she finished the year as the world youth and junior leader in the event.[8]

McLaughlin won the 400-meter hurdles in 54.46 at the 2016 New Balance national outdoor high school championships; the time broke Maxie's prep record and world youth best, as well as Lashinda Demus's American junior record of 54.70.[9] In addition, she ran on Union Catholic's team in the Swedish medley relay, running a fast 50.93 split for 400 meters as the team set a new high school record of 2:07.99.[9] McLaughlin won the USATF junior championship in 54.54 the following week; in recognition of her accomplishments, she was named Gatorade National Girls Athlete of the Year.[3][10]

McLaughlin won her heat (55.46) and semi-final (55.23) in the 400-meter hurdles at the 2016 United States Olympic Trials.[8][11] In the final she placed third in 54.15, setting a new world youth best and world junior record and qualifying for the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.[12] McLaughlin is the youngest athlete to make the American Olympic track and field team since Carol Lewis and Denean Howard qualified for the boycotted Moscow Olympics in 1980.[13]

Personal bests

Surface Distance Time Date Location Note(s)
Outdoor 200 m 23.53 May 20, 2016 Plainfield, New Jersey
400 m 51.87 June 8, 2016 Berkeley, New Jersey
100 m hurdles 13.34 June 14, 2014 Greensboro, North Carolina
400 m hurdles 54.15 July 10, 2016 Eugene, Oregon US National HS record, NJR, WYB & WJR
Indoor 400 m 51.84 March 13, 2016 New York, New York WYB
60 m hurdles 8.17 March 15, 2015 New York, New York

References

  1. 1 2 "Sydney McLaughlin". United States Olympic Committee. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 "Track: Union Catholic siblings Taylor and Sydney McLaughlin were born to run". The Star-Ledger. January 29, 2014. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
  3. 1 2 Konecky, Chad (June 27, 2016). "Sydney McLaughlin wins Gatorade National Track & Field Athlete of the Year". USA Today. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
  4. ↑ Staff. "Union Catholic Track Star Will Be Youngest U.S. Track Star in Olympics", TAP Into Union, July 11, 2016. Accessed July 13, 2016. "Sydney McLaughlin a member of the Class of 2017 at Union Catholic High School in Scotch Plains, set a high school and new world junior record in the women's 400 hurdles at the U.S. Olympic trails. 'All the pressure I put on myself,' McLaughlin, a resident of Dunellen, said in her post-race interview on NBC, which will air the games from Brazil next month."
  5. ↑ Mazzone, Stephen (July 14, 2014). "Sydney McLaughlin is Too Good to Be Only 14". MileSplit. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
  6. 1 2 Butler, Mark (ed.). "IAAF World Championships Beijing 2015 Statistics Handbook". IAAF Communications Department: 525.
  7. 1 2 Mulkeen, Jon (July 1, 2015). "McLaughlin, Hill and Lyles impress at US Youth Championships". Retrieved July 10, 2016.
  8. 1 2 Tilastopaja profile for Sydney McLaughlin
  9. 1 2 "McLaughlin's record-shattering performances earn AOW honors". USA Track & Field. June 21, 2016. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
  10. ↑ Jordan, Jason (July 13, 2016). "Gatorade Female Athlete of the Year Sydney McLaughlin has rare talents away from the track". USA Today. Retrieved July 17, 2016.
  11. ↑ Lambert, Jim (July 10, 2016). "Rio 2016: N.J. high school phenom McLaughlin aims to make Olympic Team on Sunday". NJ.com. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
  12. ↑ Young, Dennis (July 10, 2016). "16-Year-Old Sydney McLaughlin Makes Olympic Team With World Junior Record". FloTrack. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
  13. ↑ Lambert, Jim (July 10, 2016). "Rio 2016: N.J. HS phenom Sydney McLaughlin runs her way onto the Olympic team". NJ.com. Retrieved July 11, 2016.
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