LA 2028 Olympics schedule dashes Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone’s double-gold dreams

LA28 released the competition schedule for the 2028 Olympic Games that will likely draw worldwide criticism for failing to maximize the exposure and competitive opportunities for arguably the Games’ biggest star. The Games’ track and field schedule makes it all but impossible for American sprinter/hurdler Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, the two-time Olympic 400-meter hurdles champion and reigning world champion in the 400 meters, to attempt an unprecedented sweep of the 400 and 400 hurdles gold medals. The schedule also eliminates one of McLaughlin-Levrone’s back-up plans – a 400 hurdles and 200 double. “The world’s loss,” said Bob Kersee, McLaughlin-Levrone’s coach. After winning the Olympic 400 hurdles titles in 2021 and 2024 and lowering the world record in the event six times, McLaughlin-Levrone, 26, and Kersee this past season took aim at breaking the 40-year-old 400-meter world record of 47.60 seconds set by East Germany’s Marita Koch in 1985. McLaughlin-Levrone won the 400 gold medal at the World Championships in Tokyo in September in 47.78 seconds, the second-fastest time in history and an American and World Championships record. She and Kersee then said they hoped to attempt a 400/400 hurdles double in Los Angeles. “She could do it,” Kersee said in a phone interview with the Southern California News Group on Wednesday. “She’s proven she’s capable. Yeah, she’s capable of doing it. So why not give her the opportunity? “We’re a sport fighting for attention. So why do you make this decision?” Kersee continued, referring to the schedule not maximizing McLaughlin-Levrone’s exposure. “This shows the weakness of our sport. We’ve got the stars but we don’t get any help from the top.” Kersee expressed frustration with Sebastian Coe, the president of World Athletics, the sport’s international governing body, and the two-time Olympic 1,500 champion for Great Britain. Coe’s showdown with countryman Steve Ovett in the 800 and 1,500 overshadowed the rest of the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow. Ovett upset Coe in the 800 with Coe rebounding in the 1,500 later in the Games. “I remember following Seb trying to double in the 800 and 1,500 and what he and Ovett were trying to do is what the sport needs, that excitement,” said Kersee, who has coached athletes to 30 Olympic gold medals and nearly 60 world titles. To complete a 400/400 hurdles double, McLaughlin-Levrone would have to run both events on two days. The women’s 400 opens with first-round heats on July 15 at the Coliseum. On July 18, the first round of the 400 hurdles are scheduled for a morning session, with the 400 semifinals slated for the night session. The hurdles semifinal is on the night of July 20, with the 400 final sometime between an hour to 90 minutes later. The 400 hurdles final is scheduled for July 22 with the women’s 200 final later that same session. In May 2024, McLaughlin-Levrone won a 200 race by beating eventual 2024 Olympic 200 champion Gabby Thomas. “It could be done if they worked with the schedule,” Kersee said of a double gold-medal attempt. “Apparently they don’t feel that that’s important.” McLaughlin-Levrone and Team USA will be heavily favored for a second gold medal in the 4×400 relay on July 24, the final day of the track and field competition. LA 28, World Athletics and the International Olympic Committee have already come under criticism for shifting track and field, traditionally the Games’ marquee sport, to the first week of the Los Angeles Games from its usual spot in the Games second week to accommodate the logistics surrounding using SoFi Stadium as the swimming venue. Swimming is normally held during the first week of the Olympics. Kersee cited Cuba’s Alberto Juantorena completing an unusual 800/400 gold medal-winning double at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, with Juantorena setting the world record in the 800. McLaughlin-Levrone’s coach also alluded to officials adjusting the 1996 Games’ schedule in Atlanta to accommodate Michael Johnson’s attempt become the first man to win the 400 and 200 gold medals in the same Olympics. Valerie Brisco-Hooks, coached by Kersee, was the first athlete to win the 400 and 200 in the same Olympics, sweeping the events at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles. “I’ve been living with naysayers all my life,” Kersee said. “Nobody was looking at a 400/800 double and Alberto Juantorena did it and it was the biggest story of the Games and they got a world record out of it. I don’t understand if they adjust the schedule so Michael Johnson is able to double in the 400 and 200, why not? I just don’t understand it.”