Two-time Olympic champion Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone of the U.S. will not be competing in the Diamond League Final in Brussels next week. The 400m hurdle world record holder was set to take on the 200m/400m double at the world-class meeting but, as reported by LetsRun.com, was pronounced ineligible by Diamond League CEO Petr Stastny at Weltklasse Zurich‘s technical meeting on Wednesday.
McLaughlin-Levrone broke the 400m hurdles world record twice this year, most recently running 50.37 in the Olympic final in Paris to take gold–marking her sixth-ever world record. Despite her indisputable dominance, the 25-year-old scarcely competes; she has only performed at seven meets this year–and none of them have been a Diamond League meeting.
On Tuesday, the Memorial Van Damme meeting organizers had announced that the “Olympic queen of athletics is coming to Brussels” as her first and only competition following Paris. This shocking news meant the Diamond League planned to violate their own rules to make an exception for the world record holder–an athlete who had ditched the entire Diamond League circuit and was the first athlete to commit to the enemy league, Grand Slam Track, for the 2025 season.
JUST IN: 2x Olympic 400m hurdles champion and WR holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone 🇺🇸 has been given a wildcard entry for the women’s 400m (September 13th) and the 200m (September 14th) at the Diamond League final in Brussels!! 👀💎 pic.twitter.com/7ckTwcCkvG
— Owen (@_OwenM_) September 3, 2024
A day later, it was clarified that there would be no such deviation from league regulations. As per Diamond League rules, McLaughlin-Levrone’s absence from all 14 Diamond League meetings (including Zurich, in which she is not entered) deems her ineligible to take one of the global wild card spots that had been granted to her.
Global wild card rule
The qualification process for majority of athletes requires them to accumulate points throughout the regular 14-meet Diamond League season to qualify for the final (they must reach the top six for field events, top eight for 100m to 800m and top 10 for distances of 1,500m and above). The Global Wild Card Rule allows meeting organizers to invite four international athletes (two men, two women) to compete in the final despite not accumulating enough points throughout the season. Global wild card athletes must have competed in at least one regular Diamond League meeting during the season, and must meet at least one of the following criteria for their discipline:
- World record holder
- Reigning world, Olympic or Diamond League champion
- Top 5 in the World Athletics rankings of their event
- Top 20 in the overall World Athletics rankings
At last year’s Diamond League final, the 2023 Prefontaine Classic, Athing Mu‘s surprise wild-card entry created a stir, as she, too, had not competed in any regular-season Diamond League meetings. She was granted entry into the 800m event, and ended up coming away with a new American and meeting record. But after McLaughlin-Levrone’s announcement sparked such massive controversy, she will have no such luck in evading the rules. The hurdler will still be allowed to compete in Brussels in a non-Diamond League final event, but can expect little competition in those races.
