WESTWOOD, CALIFORNIA, May 17–18 — Mild temperatures and pesky headwinds plagued the sprinters at the Los Angeles Grand Prix. Many would leave satisfied with their outcome, while at the same time being disappointed with where the clock stopped — save the 200, where Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone won going away in a PR 22.07, looking every bit like she was where she needed to be.
Starting in lane 6, McLaughlin-Levrone was joined, among her prime competitors, on the right by Tokyo bronze medalist Gabby Thomas in 5 and Ireland’s Texas alum Rhasidat Adeleke on her left in 7, Abby Steiner and Kendall Ellis ran in lanes 8 and 9, Brittany Brown and Jenna Prandini in 3 and 4.
At the gun, McLaughlin-Levrone may have had the slowest reaction time (0.548), but she quickly remedied that by making up the stagger on Adeleke after 50 and entered the straight with a 2-meter gap over Prandini, Adeleke, Steiner and Brown. She stretched her lead to 3 meters by the time she reached the line in 22.07 into a -0.3 wind, 0.25 ahead of Steiner in 22.32 with Brown 3rd in 22.35.
When asked if a decision had been made about doing both the flat 400 and the hurdles at the Olympic Trials, the 400H WR holder and Tokyo Olympics gold medalist affirmed that she would not be doing the double.
“The 400 hurdles is my bread and butter,” McLaughlin-Levrone said. “It’s what I’m most comfortable with. So we’re going to get back to that.”
The double, she clarified, is “definitely a possibility in the future, but just wanting to come back, after last season, just stick to one event and try to do it the best I can, be healthy, which we are, and I’m very happy about.”
When asked about her 22.07 — an 0.32 improvement on her prior best from 2018 — she said, “Honestly, I would have loved to have got 21.99, but I’m really happy with that.”
Other sprinters didn’t fare as well with the wind. The 100 was won in a slowish 11.27, albeit into a stiff –2.4 breeze, by American Melissa Jefferson, followed by compatriot Morolake Akinosun (11.28) and Jamaican Lanae-Tava Thomas. In fact, the B section was won by veteran English Gardner in a wind-legal 11.22 (0.0).
Tonea Marshall won the 100 hurdles in 12.55 over Alaysha Johnson (12.57), France’s Cyrena Samba-Mayela (12.63) and Puerto Rico’s Tokyo Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn (12.66).
The multi lap races fared…
CLICK HERE to Read the Full Original Article at Track & Field News…