ESPN’s New ‘This is SportsCenter’ Ad Stars N.J. Olympic Champion Sydney McLaughlin

Sydney McLaughlin has reached a new level of prominence. What evidence supports this claim?

The Dunellen, N.J. native is prominently featured in the latest ESPN “This is SportsCenter” commercial. Interested in sports betting?

Here’s what you need to know about the ad, according to the Worldwide Leader:

On Saturday, February 4, United States Olympic Track & Field Gold Medalist Sydney McLaughlin will make her appearance in the “This is SportsCenter” campaign. She will share screen time with veteran SportsCenter anchor Hannah Storm and include a cameo by Providence mascot Friar Dom.

The commercial titled “Seconds,” produced in collaboration with Arts & Letters Co., is scheduled to premiere during the 259th Duke versus North Carolina men’s basketball game, which will be broadcast on ESPN at 6:30 p.m. ET on February 4.

Similar to recent ads, this spot was filmed at ESPN’s Bristol, Conn. headquarters. In the ad, Storm requests McLaughlin to meet up, but McLaughlin’s schedule appears quite full. She humorously responds with, “Yeah, I’ve got 51.46 right after lunch, or I’ve got 51.41 later this afternoon. Oh, wait, I have 50.68 right now!”

Storm dismisses the importance of the numbers with a simple, “It wasn’t that important anyway.”

Each number holds particular purpose for McLaughlin. The 51.46 mark was when she set her 400m hurdles world record for Olympic gold in Tokyo, 51.41 was her 400m hurdles time at the 2022 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships (then a world record), and 50.68 was her time at the 2022 World Athletics Championships, again breaking her own world record.