By David Melly
July 28, 2025
Buckle up track and field fans. The most high-octane four-day stretch of sprinting and hurdling imaginable is set to get underway Thursday at increasingly historic New Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. If you just can’t get enough track and field coverage, there’s plenty more where that came from:
- Each day before the meet begins, tune in to Good Morning Track and Field (presented by Beekeeper Coffee), where Eric Jenkins and Aisha Praught-Leer give their takes on the action and happenings in Eugene. (Also available on the Off The Rails Podcast feed.)
- After each day at the track, tune in for CHAMPS CHATS—Chris Chavez, Eric, Aisha, Anderson Emerole, and Paul Hof-Mahoney will break down all of the results and offer up their analysis from each day’s competition. (Also available on the CITIUS MAG Podcast feed.)
- The CITIUS MAG Newsletter will be hitting your inbox daily with a recap of results and a round-up of the best content from the day.
- And for those in Eugene, we’ll be hosting two group runs with New Balance, Saturday and Sunday at 8 a.m. PT, meeting in front of Agate Alley on 1461 E. 19th Avenue. There will be coffee, treats, free “I Love Track and Field” t-shirts and the chance to try out the new FuelCell Rebel v5 and FuelCell SuperComp Elite v5. It’s going to be a great time!
Without further ado, here’s your full preview of the top storylines and athletes to watch in the women's 400m at the U.S. Championships:
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone | Photo by Kevin Morris / @kevmofoto
Schedule + How To Watch
Heats: Thursday, July. 31st at 4:39 p.m. PT (Watch it on USATF.TV)
Semifinals: Friday, Aug. 1st at 6:03 p.m. PT (Watch it on USATF.TV)
Final: Saturday, Aug. 2nd at 1:03 p.m. PT (Watch it on NBC, Peacock)
Last year's Olympic team: Aaliyah Butler, Kendall Ellis, and Alexis Holmes
Who has the World Championship qualifying standard or is in the World Rankings quota: The U.S. has 15 women who have run under the World Championships standard of 50.75.
Top Contenders: This very well may be the most highly-anticipated event of the whole championships, as Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone is all-in on the 400m. The last time she contested the flat 400m at USAs, two years ago, she ended up running 48.74 to just barely miss Sanya Richards-Ross’s American record of 48.70. Unlike in 2023, however, SML no longer has the fallback option of a wild card in the 400m hurdles—she’s either making the team in this event or she’s not running Worlds. The hope of sprint fans everywhere is that an all-in McLaughlin-Levrone will yield something truly special in the final.
Behind McLaughlin-Levrone are a few big questions. It’s possible that the remaining two spots will both be occupied by NCAA champions: Outdoor champ Aaliyah Butler followed up her victory in Eugene with a stellar 49.09 run in Monaco, taking Olympic champ Marileidy Paulino to the line in the process, and indoor champ Bella Whittaker has looked strong on the DL circuit since setting the 49.24 American record indoors. But they’ve both been going hard since January, and the long season can start to catch up with NCAA stars around this time of year.
The comeback narratives of the year will come in the forms of Lynna Irby-Jackson, who ran her first sub-50 since 2018 earlier this spring, and Britton Wilson, who’s back after an injury-plagued 2024. Wilson finished second behind McLaughlin-Levrone in 2023, but she’s only run 50.54 thus far this season so we’ll have to wait and see if she’s back in top form.
Finally, we haven’t seen Alexis Holmes in action since GST Philly. While the World Indoor silver medalist is capable of making the team at her best, Holmes hasn’t dipped back under 50 seconds yet in 2025.
Dark Horses: If Talitha Diggs can return to her 2023 form, she should be able to mix it up with the top three. But Diggs only had a season’s best of 51.49. Her former SEC rival Rosey Effiong may be a better bet this time around, as the Arkansas runner finished third at NCAAs in 50.51 and is only a year removed from her 49.72 PB.
One Good Stat: 15 years—that’s the age gap between 33-year-old Quanera Hayes and 18-year-old HS star Sydney Sutton, who are both entered here with a shot to make the final and, potentially, the relay pool for Team USA.
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David Melly
David began contributing to CITIUS in 2018, and quickly cemented himself as an integral part of the team thanks to his quick wit, hot takes, undying love for the sport and willingness to get yelled at online.
