Four-time Olympic gold medallist Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone has announced she is pregnant, confirming she will miss much of the 2026 athletics season.
The 26-year-old American, who holds the world record in the 400m hurdles, shared the news on Instagram with the words: “Made a human with my favourite human.” She and her husband, former NFL hopeful Andre Levrone, married in 2022.
McLaughlin-Levrone was named World Athletics female athlete of the year for the second time in 2025 after becoming the first woman in 40 years to break 48 seconds in the flat 400 metres. She won Olympic gold in the 400m hurdles at Paris 2024, breaking her own world record, and also claimed a second 4x400m relay gold.
Her absence means she is likely to miss the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championships in Budapest in September 2026, which will offer record prize money of $150,000 (£111,000) to event winners.
