USA Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone [Source: Reuters]

Olympic champion Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone ramped up preparations for a title defence at this year’s Paris Games by running a world-leading time of 52.70 seconds on Friday in her first 400-metre hurdles race in over a year.

McLaughlin-Levrone, the world record holder in the 400 hurdles, last competed in the event in August 2022.

The 24-year-old displayed no signs of rust at the Edwin Moses Classic in Atlanta, as she effortlessly surged past her competitors to better Jamaican Rushell Clayton’s previous season-leading mark of 53.72 by over a second.

McLaughlin-Levrone, who missed last year’s World Championships due to a knee injury, has been competing entirely in the United States in the build-up to this month’s U.S. Olympic Team Trials.