Olympic gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone headlines weekend track and field action on NBC Sports and Peacock as Americans gear up for next month’s Olympic Trials for the Paris Games.
McLaughlin-Levrone is scheduled to race the 200m, a complementary event for her, at the USATF Los Angeles Grand Prix on Saturday.
NBC, NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app air coverage from 3-4:30 p.m. ET. Peacock coverage runs from 3-5 p.m.
Then the Diamond League season resumes with a meet in Marrakesh, Morocco, on Sunday from 2-4 p.m. ET, live on CNBC, NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app (for CNBC subscribers) and Peacock.
START LISTS: Los Angeles Grand Prix | Diamond League
McLaughlin-Levrone is the Tokyo Olympic champion and world record holder in the 400m hurdles, the event she plans to contest at Olympic Trials, which are June 21-30 in Eugene, Oregon. The top three in most events at trials make the team for Paris.
In 2023, McLaughlin-Levrone ran the flat 400m instead and posted the world’s best time for the year, though she missed August’s world championships due to a small left PCL tear that led to patella issues and tendonitis.
At the LA Grand Prix, McLaughlin-Levrone is entered to race the 200m against a field that includes fellow American Gabby Thomas, the Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist and 2023 World silver medalist at that distance.
Other stars in action in LA include Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico (100m hurdles) and Rio Olympic gold medalists Matthew Centrowitz (1500m), who plans to retire after this season, and Dalilah Muhammad (400m hurdles).
Here are five events to watch this weekend:
Women’s 400m -- Saturday, 3:45 p.m. ET
Field includes reigning world champion Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic, world bronze medalist Sada Williams of Barbados, 2019 World champion Salwa Eid Naser of Bahrain, world 800m champion Mary Moraa of Kenya and American Quanera Hayes, who won the Tokyo Olympic Trials. Paulino’s status as Olympic favorite is boosted by McLaughlin-Levrone’s decision to race the 400m hurdles and not the 400m this summer. McLaughlin-Levrone was the world’s fastest 400m sprinter last year (48.74), two hundredths ahead of Paulino’s winning time at August’s world championships. So far this year, nobody has broken 49 seconds. Paulino won the first two Diamond League 400m races of the season last month.
Women’s 200m -- Saturday, 4:23 p.m. ET
On May 4, McLaughlin-Levrone contested her first 200m since 2018. She ran 22.38 with a 2.9 meter/second tailwind, above the limit of 2.0 for record purposes. It was one hundredth faster than her personal best at the distance in legal conditions. The top American women can break 22 seconds, led by Thomas, who ran a personal-best 21.60 to win USATF Outdoors last July. Other Americans who could be factors at Olympic Trials are in this field, including Brittany Brown, Jenna Prandini and Abby Steiner. World 200m champion Shericka Jackson of Jamaica races the 200m at Sunday’s Diamond League.
Men’s 400m — Saturday, 3:54 p.m. ET
Michael Norman, the 2022 World champion, is back to running the 400m after a foray into the 100m in 2023. On May 4, he ran 44.21 in his first 400m race since August 2022. That matched the fastest time by any American in 2023, putting him right back in the mix heading toward trials. Here, he faces 2012 Olympic gold medalist Kirani James of Grenada, plus the top two men from last year’s nationals: Bryce Deadmon and Vernon Norwood.
Men’s 800m — Sunday, 2:14 p.m. ET
A Kenyan won the last four Olympic gold medals in this event. This field includes three men who could extend that streak in Paris. That’s Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Emmanuel Korir, 2023 World silver medalist Emmanuel Wanyonyi and Wyclife Kinyamal, the world’s fourth-fastest man in 2024 and third fastest so far in 2024.
Men’s Discus — Sunday, 2:41 p.m. ET
A gathering of giants: Reigning Olympic and world champion Daniel Ståhl of Sweden, 2022 World champ Kristjan Čeh of Slovenia and Mykolas Alekna of Lithuania (and Cal), who on April 14 broke the 37-year-old world record. Winner here could become the Paris favorite.