Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone pulls out of LA Grand Prix

Also she has covid "a week or so ago" but when startlists were getting announced 2 weeks ago she wasn't on them, and she didn't feature in any promos while Syd did.

Soooo guess Kersee just knew she was gonna come down with covid somehow and just didn't bother.

Can't trust a word that comes out of that guy's mouth.

Kersee the Chemist isn't trustworthy? Shocking

I mean she's an adult and a professional athlete. Does it really matter what her coach says? If she wanted to race it, what's stopping her?

Re Mu and the 1500m, I have been saying for a while over on TFN forums that if Mu wants to be better at 800m she needs to improve her strength & endurance, and that means run more 1500s. She was vulnerable in the home straight last year in Eugene and if not for nudging Hodgkinson over, and the home crowd support, she'd be the World silver medalist, not gold. 400m aint gonna improve her home straight, but the strength from running1500s is.

Now, saying all that, it isn't the same as being a contender for gold in Paris over 1500m. No way jose, she won't be medaling in the 1500m next year. She needs to be an 800m specialist with the occasional outing at 400m & 1500m. But not double up.

Re McLaughlin, judging by her comments, Kersee was clearly lying re the hamstring.

I agree with another poster that he is setting the story up for performances that may not be as expected....Oh Mu had covid; Syd had a hamstring strain. I also think Wilsons fantastic 400m run shooketh him, and McLaughlin isn't in that form yet. They didn't want her coming out and running 49.9 and being compared to a 49.1 college athlete.

I agree. I wish there was some way to require a certain number or races just to be in nationals.

I know it's not realistic but I'll be cheering against her at nationals and worlds. I hope Bol beats her.

Looks like she will run a 400 in June, or so we hope.

Her hamstring is too injured to run on her home track on May 26, but her hamstring is going to be in tip top shape on June 9?

Sounds like a bunch of BS.

I think that Sydney got offered a lot of money to run in Europe, and her coach didn't want her to run in two races, so he picked the one with the bigger appearance fee.

Yeah this is 100% it

How selfish of her/him! I know most people on this board would opt for earning less money for doing the same work if offered the opportunity. After all, to heck with prioritizing you and your family's well-being! We all have a responsibility to concern ourselves with what compete strangers think about our own personal and financial affairs.

That could be the case but Kersee did say she only had a slight irritation with her hamstring and that it was nothing serious so it could be that they felt 2 more weeks of rest on it would do the trick. She has to run at some point in June to get a qualification time for USAs. This meet is also in Paris so good way to test out the environment for the Olympics next year.

Way to miss the entire point. She is free to race wherever she wants. But maybe don't pull out last minute to a meet a bunch of people paid to see you run at and make up some BS injury to do that

Proving the hamstring story is complete BS

Or, she could just run both races, like an actual competing track athlete

I'll believe it when it happens.

I think she will run in Paris, otherwise it would be way too damaging for her reputation to pull out two meets in a row. She will get good $$$ and get to test herself in the event before the nationals. (yes, she could have done this on home turf, but there would have been more focus from the US media had she run in LA, which she won't get here.)

Interesting that Paulino is also down for Paris. Her short sprint times have been really good this season, but her two 400 outings have just been 'ok' but nothing amazing. Really keen to see what she does in LA which will give us an indication of what kind of challenge she can put up to McLaughlin. So far, I don't know any other starters in the event.