The 17-year-old McLaughlin, a rising senior at Union Catholic High School, is the youngest U.S. track and field Olympian since 1972. She runs in the opening round of the women's 400 hurdles on Mond...
New Jersey teen star Sydney McLaughlin, who has captivated the U.S. track and field community with her magical run to Rio, makes her much anticipated Olympic debut on Monday night in the first round of the women's 400-meter hurdles in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The 17-year-old McLaughlin, a rising senior at Union Catholic High School, will be running out of lane 2 in the first of six qualifying heats at approximately 8:30 p.m. ET.
RELATED: Here's how to watch McLaughlin's opening round race on Monday
What are McLaughlin's chances of advancing to Tuesday's semifinal round? Well, it looks like she not only has a great chance to earn a spot in the semifinals, but her odds of winning her opening round race are very good.
MORE: 13 cool things about Sydney McLaughlin
Here's how the qualifying works.
The top 3 finishers in each heat plus the next six fastest hurdlers will advance to the semifinals, which are scheduled for Tuesday night at approximately 8:10 p.m. ET.
McLaughlin, who became the youngest U.S. track and field Olympian since 1972 when she placed third at the U.S. Trials last month, heads into her heat with the fastest personal best time among the 8 hurdlers in her race with the the World Junior record time of 54.15 that she ran at the Trials.
The only other athlete in McLaughlin's heat that has broken 55 seconds is Ristananna Tracey of Jamaica, who owns a personal best of 54.52. The next fastest is Ayomide Folorunso of Italy with a lifetime best of 55.55. Here's a look at the start lists for all 6 heats.
McLaughlin, who lives in Dunellen, will have plenty of support tonight from her high school as Union Catholic has planned a viewing party at the school in Scotch Plains, which is expected to draw anywhere from 500 to up to and possibly more than 1,000 people.
UC Olympic Viewing Party to cheer on Sydney McLaughlin '17. All welcome Mon 8/15 6:00-9:00PM at Union Catholic H.S. pic.twitter.com/m6jM6yQwVw
— Union Catholic HS (@unioncatholichs) July 28, 2016