400m hurdles world record holder and Olympic champion Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone was announced as part of the 200m and 400m fields for the upcoming Brussels Diamond League on Sept. 13th and 14th. However, the Diamond League clarified that she will not be allowed to race in the circuit’s final since she has not qualified.

Here’s what you need to know:

– McLaughlin-Levrone has not competed in an individual race since running 50.37 to break her world record and win gold at the Paris Olympics on Aug. 6th. She was also part of the Team USA 4x400m relay that won gold in 3:15.27, which was the second-fastest performance in history. McLaughlin-Levrone split 47.71 on the second leg.

– McLaughlin-Levrone and her husband went on vacation to Greece following the Olympics.

– McLaughlin-Levrone even shared the Allianz Memorial Van Damme’s Instagarm post about her entry to the meet.

The caption read: “👸🏾The Olympic queen of athletics Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone is coming to Brussels!👸🏾 🥇🥇 The greatest athlete of the year who produced a historic world record at the Paris Olympics will race both the 400m (Friday) and the 200m (Saturday) at the Allianz Memorial Van Damme! This is her first (and only!) appearance after the Paris Olympics, so don’t miss this unique opportunity to see her in action on both Friday and Saturday nights. Let’s give Sydney a warm Brussels welcome! 👏”

– “We are extremely honoured that Sydney has chosen Brussels for this unique double,” meet director Kim Gevaert said in a release. “She has impressed me enormously with her double Olympic gold and her incredible world record time. I look forward to witnessing her testing her limits in the 400m and 200m. Sydney’s presence is making this years event historic.”

– News of McLaughlin’s entry to the meet caused some uproar online as many were quick to point out that she was not eligible to compete in the Diamond League final since she has not raced any Diamond League meets this year. She could not be considered for the “Global Wild Card” (which applies to world record holders, reigning World/Olympic/Diamond League champions, top 5 athletes in the World rankings of their event or Top 20 overall World Athletics ranked athletes) since she did not compete in any Diamond League meet this year. Global wild card athletes can win the Diamond League champion title and trophy but will not receive the full prize money. This is how Jakob Ingebrigtsen was able to enter the 3000m for last year’s Diamond League final and went on to win the title.

– Outside of the U.S. Olympic Trials and the Paris Olympics, McLaughlin-Levrone only raced at the Oxy Invitational, LA Grand Prix, Edwin Moses Legends Meet and New York City Grand Prix. She ran a 200m personal best of 22.07s to beat a field of 200m specialists including eventual Olympic champion Gabby Thomas. In New York, she dominated the 400m and won by 2.16 seconds with a 48.75s victory. That’s No. 4 on the 2024 season list and faster than Olympic bronze medalist Natalia Kaczmarek has run this year. McLaughlin-Levrone is No. 2 on the U.S. all-time list with her 48.74 personal best from winning the 2023 U.S. Outdoor Championships.

What The Diamond League Determined

LetsRun.com received a statement from Diamond League CEO Petr Stastny saying: “It is not about allowing a specific athlete to compete or not. It is about rules and criteria which must be fulfilled by all to becoming eligible to compete at the WDL Final. Ms McLaughlin-Levrone does not fulfill those criteria, either by accumulating enough points or receiving a wild card…The final leg of the Diamond League is not an invitational meeting, and any athlete proposed for a Global Wild Card must have competed at least in one of our events during this season.”

She is still mentioned in the meet’s release here. It says: “With two additional races outside of the Wanda Diamond League Final, the Brussels meeting wants to honour McLaughlin-Levrone, who produced a historic 400m hurdles world record at the Olympic Games in Paris. She will test her limits on 400m (Friday) and 200m (Saturday).”

Update on Thursday morning:

After the Diamond League determined 400m hurdles world record holder and Olympic champion Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone was ineligible to compete in the Diamond League final as a “Global Wild Card” since she has not competed at any of the other Diamond League meets this season. Memorial Van Damme meet organizers have added two races to the schedule for her to race. She will not be part of the Diamond League final.

Meet organizers issued the following statement: “To avoid any confusion or misunderstanding, we do confirm that 400m hurdles Olympic champion Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone will be competing at the Allianz Memorial Van Damme, but not as part of the Wanda Diamond League Final races. To honour Sydney’s remarkable achievements, including her unforgettable 400m hurdles world record in Paris, we’ve added two special races. She will run the 400m on Friday and the 200m on Saturday at 19h53.”

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