The American teenager Sydney McLaughlin has qualified for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro next month in the 400-metre hurdles, making her the youngest track and field athlete to compete in 40 years.
Junior world record
McLaughlin, 16, a high-school student, will be the youngest track and field athlete to compete at the Olympic Games in 40 years when she lines up in the 400 metres hurdles in Rio de Janeiro next month.
A time of 54.15 seconds, a junior world record performance, earned her third place in the United States trials on Sunday.
Montreal Games
McLaughlin is the youngest US track and field athlete to qualify for an Olympics since Carol Lewis in 1980. Lewis however never took part in the Moscow Games because of the US-led boycott.
The last 16 year old to compete in the Olympics for the US was 100m hurdler Rhonda Brady in the Montreal Games in 1976.
Overwhelmed
McLaughlin, from New Jersey, said she has been overwhelmed by the occasion of competing after arriving in Eugene. “I think the first day was definitely the hardest,” McLaughlin said.
“I definitely had a moment where I didn’t think I could do it, and [my coaches] told me ‘You’re getting on the line and running this race’.”
Eating a cheeseburger
McLaughlin, whose father tempted her into track and field as a six year old with the promise of giving her chocolate bars, said she was thinking of junk food as she powered to the line in Sunday’s 400m hurdles final.
“My mind was on finishing the race and eating a cheeseburger,” she said of what she had kept her focus on.
Beast
Kori Carter, who represented the US at the World Championships in Beijing last year, was left in awe of McLaughlin’s performance after finishing in fourth behind her young rival.
“She is a beast,” Carter said after the race. “She’s the truth. I was in every single heat with her and she carries herself like a pro – I know she will represent the USA amazingly.”
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