Two-time Olympic champion Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone from the United States will not compete in the Diamond League final in Brussels next week. The 400m hurdles world record holder was scheduled to compete in the 200m/400m double at the world-class meet, but was ruled ineligible by the Diamond League CEO, LetsRun.com reports Piotr Stastny at Wednesday’s technical meeting of the Weltklasse Zurich.

McLaughlin-Levrone has broken the 400m hurdles world record twice this year, most recently running 50.37 in the Olympic final in Paris to win gold – her sixth world record. Despite her undisputed dominance, the 25-year-old has rarely competed; she has only competed in seven events this year – none of which were Diamond League events.

On Tuesday, organizers of the Memorial Van Damme meet announced that “the Olympic queen of track and field is coming to Brussels” for her first and only competition after Paris. The shocking news meant that the Diamond League was planning to break its own rules to make an exception for the world record-holding athlete who has abandoned the entire Diamond League cycle AND was the first athlete to commit to playing in the opposing league, Grand Slam Track, for the 2025 season.

BREAKING NEWS: Two-time Olympic 400m hurdles champion and world record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone 🇺🇸 has been given a wildcard into the women’s 400m (September 13) and 200m (September 14) at the Diamond League final in Brussels!! 👀💎 photo:twitter.com/7ckTwcCkvG

— Owen (@_OwenM_) September 3, 2024

A day later, it was clarified that there would be no such exception to the league rules. Under Diamond League rules, McLaughlin-Levrone’s absence from all 14 Diamond League meets (including Zurich, for which she is not scheduled) makes her ineligible to fill one of the global wildcard spots that were awarded to her.

Global Wild Card Rule

The qualification process for most athletes requires them to accumulate points in a regular Diamond League season of 14 meets to qualify for the finals (they must finish in the top six in the field events, top eight in the 100m to 800m events, and top ten in the 1500m and beyond events). The Global Wild Card rule allows meet organizers to invite four international athletes (two men, two women) to compete in the finals despite not having earned enough points throughout the season. Global Wild Card athletes must have competed in at least one regular Diamond League meet during the season and must meet at least one of the following criteria for their sport:

• World record holder
• Reigning World, Olympic or Diamond League Champion
• Top five in the World Athletics rankings in their discipline
• Top 20 in the overall World Athletics ranking

During last year’s Diamond League final, the 2023 Prefontaine Classic, Athing MuThe unexpected wildcard entry caused a stir, as she also hadn’t competed in any regular Diamond League meets. She qualified for the 800m and eventually came away with a new American and meet record. But after McLaughlin-Levrone’s announcement caused such controversy, she won’t be so lucky to get around the rules. The hurdler will still be eligible to compete in a non-Diamond League final event in Brussels, but she can expect to face little competition in those races.