NJ's Own Sydney McLaughlin Sets New World Record In 400-Meter Hurdles

EUGENE, OR — There she goes again!

Central Jersey's own Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone yet again set a new world record in her signature race, the women's 400-meter hurdles. McLaughlin set the record Sunday at the U.S. Track and Field Olympic team trials, held in Eugene, Oregon.

She ran the race with a new time of 50.65 seconds, a new world record.

You'll next see McLaughlin-Levrone compete in the Summer 2024 Olympics, held in Paris July 26 - Aug. 11. McLaughlin won her first Olympic gold medals at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo; she won two gold medals that year, a sweet victory after she failed to place in her first Olympics, 2016 in Rio.

McLaughlin, 24, was born in New Brunswick and grew up in Dunellen. She graduated from Union Catholic Regional High School in 2017, and that's where she first rose to worldwide fame in sprinting and hurdles.

This is now the fifth time McLaughlin has set a world record in the 400-meter hurdles, the race she won the gold medals for. Her previous best time was 50.68, and she used to run it in 52.16 in 2021.

Sunday's time beat her last world record by .03 seconds.

“Just shock. Honestly shock,” said McLaughlin-Levrone Sunday after she saw her new time, according to the Associated Press. “I know when it first came up it said, ‘50.67.’ I was like, ‘There’s just no way. I wasn’t expecting that time."

McLaughlin is married to NFL player Andre Levrone Jr.; she does not live in New Jersey anymore.

Local fans often gather to watch McLaughlin-Levrone race, and viewing parties are often held in Dunellen, Mountainside and on the Union Catholic campus in Scotch Plains. As the world prepares for the Paris Summer 2024 Olympics, this August will be no different.

More about the 2024 summer Olympics: NJ, NY Soccer Stars Are Headed To 2024 Olympics In Paris