Two-time Olympic champion Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone of the U.S. won’t be competing within the Diamond League Closing in Brussels subsequent week. The 400m hurdle world file holder was set to tackle the 200m/400m double on the world-class assembly however, as reported by LetsRun.com, was pronounced ineligible by Diamond League CEO Petr Stastny at Weltklasse Zurich‘s technical assembly on Wednesday.
McLaughlin-Levrone broke the 400m hurdles world file twice this 12 months, most not too long ago working 50.37 within the Olympic closing in Paris to take gold–marking her sixth-ever world file. Regardless of her indeniable dominance, the 25-year-old scarcely competes; she has solely carried out at seven meets this 12 months–and none of them have been a Diamond League assembly.
On Tuesday, the Memorial Van Damme assembly organizers had introduced that the “Olympic queen of athletics is coming to Brussels” as her first and solely competitors following Paris. This stunning information meant the Diamond League deliberate to violate their very own guidelines to make an exception for the world file holder–an athlete who had ditched the complete Diamond League circuit and was the primary athlete to decide to the enemy league, Grand Slam Observe, 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 ladies’s 400m (September thirteenth) and the 200m (September 14th) on the Diamond League closing in Brussels!! 👀💎 pic.twitter.com/7ckTwcCkvG
— Owen (@_OwenM_) September 3, 2024
A day later, it was clarified that there can be no such deviation from league laws. As per Diamond League guidelines, McLaughlin-Levrone’s absence from all 14 Diamond League conferences (together with Zurich, through which she shouldn’t be entered) deems her ineligible to take one of many international wild card spots that had been granted to her.
International wild card rule
The qualification course of for majority of athletes requires them to build up factors all through the common 14-meet Diamond League season to qualify for the ultimate (they need to attain the highest six for area occasions, prime eight for 100m to 800m and prime 10 for distances of 1,500m and above). The International Wild Card Rule permits assembly organizers to ask 4 worldwide athletes (two males, two girls) to compete within the closing regardless of not accumulating sufficient factors all through the season. International wild card athletes will need to have competed in no less than one common Diamond League assembly in the course of the season, and should meet no less than one of many following standards for his or her self-discipline:
- World file holder
- Reigning world, Olympic or Diamond League champion
- High 5 within the World Athletics rankings of their occasion
- High 20 within the total World Athletics rankings
Ultimately 12 months’s Diamond League closing, the 2023 Prefontaine Basic, Athing Mu‘s shock wild-card entry created a stir, as she, too, had not competed in any regular-season Diamond League conferences. She was granted entry into the 800m occasion, and ended up coming away with a brand new American and assembly file. However after McLaughlin-Levrone’s announcement sparked such huge controversy, she could have no such luck in evading the foundations. The hurdler will nonetheless be allowed to compete in Brussels in a non-Diamond League closing occasion, however can count on little competitors in these races.