The Sydney and Femke Show, and the Battle of Two Coaches

The Sydney and Femke show and the Battle of Two Coaches 

Sydney McLaughlin Levrone is among the finest athletes in American track and field history. An athletic prodigy, Sydney has worked long and hard to perfect her specialty, the 400-meter hurdles, putting the WR into the unimaginable realm of 50.68.

Over the last few years, Sydney has worked with Bobby Kersee, one of our finest, if not most eccentric, athletic coaches in the entire sport. Eccentricity is not a bad thing, and his athletes love him.

Bobby Kersee has coached great multi-eventers, like his wife, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, and great sprinters, like Allyson Felix. He has a fine group of athletes from Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Athing Mu, Taylor McLaughlin (Sydney’s brother), Brandon Miller, Jenna Prandini, and Keni Harrison. Bobby develops sprinters, hurdlers, multi-eventers, you name it, Bobby has coached the event.

I first met Bobby Kersee in 1994, sitting in the stands in Knoxville, Tennessee, at the USATF Outdoor, and I was surprised that he knew me. He sat beside me and began discussing Ben Johnson, the disgraced Canadian sprinter. Bobby hoped the guy would break a WR again, and as he was being tested repeatedly, it would show that just because someone adds drugs to a regimen does not make the athlete superior. “You can not make a racehorse out of a workhorse,” Bobby said.

He was incensed that fans could think there was an easy road to greatness in our sport.

With all due candor and respect, I think Bobby Kersee is out of his mind, but in a good way. I recall a conversation with Bobby about being nearly arrested wearing a hoodie and ordering a pizza in California until the police officer noticed it was Bobby. The man is painfully honest, and he is a superior coach. His strangeness is not an act but an example of how unique characters are in whatever their specialty. Bobby Kersee is one of the most creative people I have ever met. His knowledge of the sport is fascinating, as is his understanding of human nature. I always have time for Bobby Kersee. I learn something in each and every conversation.

Last year, Bobby received some unfavorable media coverage because neither Sydney nor Athing Mu was racing much. Then, they pulled out of the meet that Bobby was co-founder of, the USATF LA Grand Prix. Truth is, these are two different situations. I am not sure he was responsible, but he protects his athletes. Bobby Kersee knows that when building great athletes, every part of their lives is essential in that upcoming Olympic battle. His athletes trust him implicitly.

Athing Mu is another child prodigy, and she needed a break. When she lost in Budapest, she was mad and returned to Nike Pre Classic with fire in her eyes. Bobby encouraged her to take a break and supported her build to Pre. She will be ready in 2024 for Paris, mark my word. Last year, Bobby was speaking to me via phone and told me that, shortly, Athing, when she was ready, would go for the 800m world record. I have no reason not to believe him.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone needed a break. Although her interviews have been few and far between, they have been tremendous. I have to say Sydney is an excellent interviewee, but she seemed like 2023 was a year to renew. She was injured before Budapest and was not seen for the rest of the season. I believe Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone will return in 2024, but I know little about her injury recovery.

Bobby Kersee has a fantastic track record, no pun intended, of preparing athletes to compete in their most challenging races. Sydney McLaughlin has the entire World gunning for her in the 400m hurdles. Her foray into the 400m flat in 2023 gave her a respite from the ten-hurdle race, the 400m hurdles. But in racing in 2023, Sydney developed a knee issue over the 400m flat. What also should be noted was that after not racing the 400m for several years, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone was dangerously close to the American record in a series of a few short races.

It is pretty evident that a motivated, healthy, and focused Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone could do something spectacular in Paris in August 2024. It is also quite apparent that Femke Bol, a motivated, healthy, and focused athlete from the Netherlands, also plans to be ready for Paris.

For seven billion athletics fans (face it, 80 percent of Olympic fans rediscover track and field every four years), the women’s 400-meter flat and 400-meter hurdles will be two of the highlights of the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The 400-meter hurdles is a classic distance. It consists of one lap of the purple MONDO track, about to be installed in Paris, with ten hurdles. This is one of the most challenging disciplines in our sport, and the agility, technique, speed, and focus these women will display will surprise and shock you. If both athletes are healthy and prepared, this will be a race for the ages.

In the last 16 months, Femke Bol has honed her speed, endurance, and focus. In winter 2023, Bol broke the WR for the 400 meters indoors. Outdoors, she won the 400-meter hurdles, minus Sydney, and took gold in the 4x400m after collapsing in the mixed 4x400m at the finish line.

Femke Bol is coached by Swiss coach Laurent Meuwly. Laurent took Femke aside after Tokyo 2021, where she ran 52.03 ER for the 400-meter hurdles and began to change her steps. The goal was to run seven hurdles with 14 steps and then, over the last three hurdles, move to 15 steps once again. The concept was to use Femke’s strong finish to her advantage.

Last summer, at the London Diamond League, Femke Bol improved her personal best to 51.45, a new European record for the 400-meter hurdles. What will she run in 2024?

What is the secret sauce, you ask?

Endurance work, agility work, hurdle work, speed work, recovery, mental preparation, and sports nutrition all play a part, and Coach Meuwly has all of the bases covered.

This past World Indoors, March 1-3,2024, Femke Bol broke the WR at 400 meters for a second time and ran a brilliant leg on her team (Netherlands) 4x400m, taking a second gold.

Laurent Meuwly has honed Femke Bol’s impressive 400m flat speed and built her speed over the past several winters, where she has sent National records, World Records, and European records over the 400 meter flat.

Femke Bol noted, “My favorite event is the 400m hurdles.” She has significantly improved in speed and strength since 2023 and should be ready to challenge Sydney McLaughlin Levrone in Paris.

What is fascinating is that both Femke Bol and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone are sponsored by New Balance Athletics, the World’s largest privately held footwear company. At $7.5 billion in sales, New Balance supports the sport with athletes in North America and Europe and events globally while making equipment (running shoes are equipment) for the World of sports.

The TRACK at New Balance, located on their campus near Boston, has hosted two world-class indoor meetings, one in 2023 and one in 2024. This year, they hosted the NCAA Division 1 Indoor and their NB Indoor Nationals. In early 2023, Femke Bol ran a world best for the 500 meters, opening her grand year in 2023. Her World best helped christen the TRACK at New Balance with a fine World Athletics Indoor Gold Tour stop, celebrating the city of Boston, an indoor track center and sports capital.

New Balance loves the track. Their team makes superb running shoes and specialty running shoes. Do you think they realize how huge Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Femke Bol could be in 2024?

The women exemplify what New Balance stands for, using their god-given talents to pursue excellence through healthy training, racing, and focus.

I look forward to spring 2024 (which begins today) for many reasons.

Several questions will be answered in the 2024 Outdoor track & field season.

One will be answered in Paris in August 2024, as one of my dream races becomes a reality. I see Sydney McLauglin-Levrone line up with Femke Bol, next to her, in the 400-meter hurdles. And in just around 50 point seconds, we will see just who the finest Women’s 400-meter hurdler in the World truly is, with all of the finest lined up on a purple MONDO track at the Stade de France, with 80,000 screaming global sports fans on-site and billions around the World on iPhones, Ipads and laptops, watching one of the singular great races of the Olympiad.

This writer can picture both coaches, Bobby Kersee and Laurent Meuwly, on different sides of the track as their prized 400-meter hurdlers run the race of their lives.

It should be a tremendous fifty seconds for the sport of athletics.

You have two choices: buy a ticket and be in the Stade de France, or watch the race from anywhere using a digital device.

Talk about a global village.