SYDNEY MCLAUGHLIN- just 16 yrs old - runs 54.46 in the 400m hurdles!!!

I'm no hurdler but noticed the stutter on #9. She kept rolling nicely and nailed #10 though. She probably is still not totally comfortable with left lead leg as you say. Thanks for your input.

rhythm wrote:

She used her left leg over hurdles 3 and 9 and led with the right on all the others. Hurdle 3 was poor, and hurdle 9 she didn't really have a choice because she was fatiguing. She can get over the hurdles with her left leg, but she has a lot of room to improve (this is a good thing!). Her form is much better than it was last year.

hurlde rhythm wrote:

She also goes over the first two hurdles leading with her right leg, which adds about 6m onto the race.

What twat. Running in the next LANE round an entire bend adds about 4m. Using the other leg lead might add 1m, but probably less. You move into the middle of the lane a few strides beforehand.

In fact the rule is that the trail knee can be inside the hurdle as long as it is not below it. So it doesn't have to cost you anything, if you're hurdling correctly.

Bruinboy wrote:

All of these things you are saying are happening.

Good

Bruinboy wrote: Go watch her last year. MUCH better hurdler. She's 16, for GOD's sake. Relax and let her and her coach do their thing. His"salt" is pretty good.

Are you the coach? I have never seen her run. I'm the one saying she should focus long term on the 400H, and aim now on her 200 and hurdling. You said that is happening. Great.

I don't know how you read any of what I said of criticism of her or her coach. A little over-sensitive?

If she is a world top 5-10 400 flat runner and can already hurdle reasonably well, then a good hurdles coach should be able to turn her into THE top 400 hurdler.

How is that a criticism of anyone?

Just checked the video of her world youth win last year in Cali. She only hurdled with a right leg lead. She ran 15s to 6, then tried to get 15s to 7 but stuttered badly just before the hurdle to 17s, then ran 17s home which got more comfortable as she got more fatigued (and her stride shortened). She was still chopping a bit into 8. Pretty good effort considering she had probably only run single digit live races before then.

15s for the first 5 or 6 hurdles is good and normal for top women. She hurdles fine on that side. She just needs to learn how far into the race 15s will get her, then drop to 16s for a few hurdles (maybe just two), then can go 17s to 10. I'd say 15s to 7, 16s to 8 and 9, and now she's back on her preferred leg, 17s to 10. That was she only does hurdle 8 on her bad side, and her others on her good leg.

Having said that, she was maybe just 16 when she ran that, so she could well be faster and stronger. Maybe she can get some 14s in early on, which would be pretty amazing for a 16yo girl.

Of course - it doesn't matter what I say, her coach and the girl herself can sort that out.

Her 54.46 at NBON looked much better than her performance in Cali last year. Also, she was only 15 when she ran at World Youths with the stuttering. It's great to see her continued progression. As seen in the recent interviews with her, it's apparent that switching leg has been a big priority for her this year and has certainly helped. There's still plenty room for improvement, but again, she's 16 and has plenty of time to refine her technique in the coming years.

Based on her 400 speed at 50. I think she has a lot more room to improve along with her hurdle form. She's a wild card to make the US team, but I wouldn't be surprised if it happens. She's got nothing to loose. It will be a great rematch with Little. She's no doubt the future.

Listen to her post race interview...

http://www.dyestat.com/gprofile.php?mgroup_id=44531&do=videos&video_id=181028

Predictions for trials:

Little: 53.4

McLaughlin: 53.7

Moline: 53.9

Tate: 54.0

Spencer: 54.2

I really don't see Sydney making this year's team for the simple fact that she is still trying to figure out her stride pattern. It is great that she has now learned how to hurdle with her alternate leg, but it would be much better if she could get her stride pattern down to where she is not approaching a hurdle unsure which leg she is going to use. 90% of the time, the best 400m hurdler is the one with the best 400m flat speed. Natalya Antyukhas, the 2012 Olympic champ had a 49.8 400m PR and I watched her split 48x twice on relays. The 3 fastest 400m hurdlers ever, the WR holder Yuliya Pechenkina, Melaine Walker and Lashinda Demus were all mid-50 400m sprinters and could run within a minutes and half of their 400m flat time going over hurdles, which is amazing. (The men can't do that.) Sydney is probably a 51 flat 400m sprinter, among 400m hurdlers, that puts her among the best in the world and should make her a lock for the USOT. However, her time going over the hurdles is over 3 seconds slower, which speaks to her technique. Sydney is with out a doubt physically capable of making the USOT and perhaps even medaling in Olympics, but at the highest level, USOT and in global championships, you can't give anything away. To be consistently good, you need the requisite 400m flat speed, which she has, but your technique, which every leg or stride pattern use, you need to be consistent and able to race with confidence in your hurdling. The greatest 400m hurdler ever, Edwin Moses, incidentally was not a great 400m sprinter, but developed a consistent 13 steps stride pattern and would pull away when his competitors changed their stride pattern. Perhaps Sydney's biggest problem might be that she has just figured out a workable pattern for running 54x, that pattern is definitely going to change when she is on pace to run 53x, which is what's required to make the USOT.

With all of that said, this kid is crazy good. Her hurdling is very good for a 16 year old and is going to quickly get better as she runs against better competition. Right now, she wins most of her races by over 2 seconds. She is better than the best hurdlers ever at this age and is better than the greatest 400m sprinters at this age. Also, I give a lot of credit to her coach and parents for how she is being trained and handled.

She only stuttered once, on about hurdle 7 from memory. But she showed her inexperience - she should have chucked one extra stride in for a couple of hurdles, then the 2nd extra one (ie gone from 15s, to 16s, then 17s for the end). Fair enough, she was only 15-16 and had probably run less than 10 races.

I don't think stride pattern is as hard to work out as everyone thinks. You need to do technical work o n both legs, then practise races. Practise the first half and get it smooth, so you're not wasting energy for the 2nd half. 15s is fine.

The only question is how far she can do 15s for. She has to adjust to conditions, how she's feeling, how hard it was to get to the hurdle before. Have a strategy to work it out, then adjust.

The men can't do that because their hurdles are 6 inches higher. The best men are at a 2-2.5 second 400>400H conversion.

I think it speaks more to her age. Her hurdling technique on her good leg is fine for a 400 hurdler. She just needs to learn how and when to drop to 16s, and from what I've heard that's exactly what she's working on (with all the other stuff).

I didn't see the race, but if she's running 15s to about h7, then 16s for h8 and h9, then 17s to h10, I don't think she needs to change anything.

She is definitely a crazy talent. IMHO the no.1 thing she needs to work on is her 100 speed. That is first, then strength, then hurdling, then endurance. You can think of a 400H as 11 sprints of 35-45m. The strength is to allow you to run faster.

It'll be interesting to track how she goes. I'd love to see the vid of that race if anyone knows a link to it.

This is way beyond what Webb's level was in high school, to put it in Letsrun perspective.

More apt might be a bit above Mary Cain at her best, albeit in a less competitive (more niche) event. Right there with Vashti and possibly Candace Hill.

Star wrote:

This is way beyond what Webb's level was in high school, to put it in Letsrun perspective.

distant observer wrote:

Working on her alternative leg pattern apparently:

http://www.runnerspace.com/video.php?video_id=181028

Can't find a video of the actual race however. Definitely one to watch.

But does she work on her leg speed velocity?

- You are correct, the men's hurdles are significantly higher. I have said on several occasions that the women's hurdles should be an inch higher. The professional women run the same hurdle height as middle school girls, which is why the best 400m hurdler is almost always the athlete with the best 400m sprint speed. Edwin Moses was only a 46 flat 400m sprinter, but could run within a minute and half of that time going over hurdles. Moses was as close to perfection as you could get going over the hurdles; 13 strides the whole way with no leg change.

- I was at the NBN meet and watched her race. I can tell you for a fact that she was trying to figure things out as she was racing. I have coached the 400m hurdles and I know the body language. She is capable of running 53x right now if she can work out her stride pattern. She looks ok going over the hurdles, but she is spending half the race adjusting her stride. I don't know how much can be achieved in the next couple of weeks, but Sydney is smart enough to figure things out on her own once she gets in more 54x type races. I disagree with you on not having to change, to run faster, her steps will definitely have to change.

- Leslie Maxie record was so strong that from memory, Sydney is first athlete I can recall to ever attempt it. As dominant as Lashinda Demus and Ebony Collins were in H.S., I don't recall then ever discussing going after the record. I've coached several H.S. sub-60 hurdlers and Leslie Maxie's record was a thing of mystery to them for the simple fact that you can be state champ running 54x in the flat 400m. Btw, Maxie was also a H.S. junior when she set the record, but I think she was a year older and she never ran faster than that in her career. Sydney is over second faster than Maxie in the flat 400m which certainly means Sydney has more upside. I like the fact that Sydney's coach is not trying have do too much. Maxie was a workhorse, she was often doing 4 events at meets starting her freshman year. I am not a big fan of the word burned out, but there is only so much a young developing body can handle.

- Letsrun is primarily a distance running site, great 400m hurdle performances don't resonate with most of the LRC. In terms of quality a 54.46 400m hurdle is about equal to a 4:01 1500.

That's a good insight about 400 flat speed and converting that to hurdle speed due to the relatively low height of women's hurdles.

A couple of points that I think make a strong case for Sydney having the most upside of any hurdlers we've ever seen. At 16, she set the indoor national record at 400 - 51.84 and has split 50.9 FAT (fastest ever AUTO split recorded for a high schooler). She will have a good shot to take down Sayna Richards' outdoor 400 HS record next year. She is in 50.x open speed right now and believe we'll see her go sub 50 by the time she graduates. This is considerably faster than Demus, Walker and Pechenkina when they were this age.

If she can get more comfortable with the stride patterns and being consistent with her steps, there's no question she can do 53 low before she's done with HS.

Hats off to the coach for having her focus on the 400 this past indoor and not the 60 hurdles.

Can't wait to see her break 54 at the trials and make the team.

I watched her usatf jr race yesterday and her hurdling after about the 4th or 4th hurdle is not very good. When her stride pattern is good, she clears the hurdles ok, albeit she is actually using too much hurdle technique than should be required for some of her height. This is something you sometimes see from when a young athlete also run the 100m hurdles. Queen Harrision for example, is a pro athlete and she over hurdles when she runs the 400 hurdles. You have to learn to almost run through the hurdles with as little hurling and effort as possible. Also, when you don't stuttering and chopping it no not only slows down her momentum, but it zaps your strength.

However, I am comparing her to ncaa and pro athletes, her hurdling is as good if not better than your average H.S. junior. If is very difficult for a H.S. coach to set up a complete flight of 400m hurdles every practice when you have a whole to team to look after. I think she is throwing away about a second when she races; I think she might run sub-54 this year if she has a race where here hurdling comes together a little better.