Sydney Mclaughlin-Levrone might solely have simply turned 25, however standing on the beginning line on the Olympic stadium is nothing new for her. The New Jersey native—who’s already damaged 5 world data—is returning for her third Olympic Video games in Paris with hopes of including one other gold (or two) to her medal rely.
As a 16-year-old, McLaughlin-Levrone broke the 400-meter hurdle world junior document with a time of 54.15 on the 2016 US Olympic Trials. That punched her ticket to the Rio Video games, the place she made it to the semifinals. She returned even stronger on the Tokyo Video games; she gained the 400-meter hurdles, outkicking American teammate Dalilah Muhammad by 0.12 seconds. She was additionally a member of the gold-winning 4×400-meter relay staff in Tokyo with Muhammad, Alison Felix, and Athing Mu.
And within the lead-up to the Paris Video games, McLaughlin-Levrone continued to deliver it. She set the new world document within the 400-meter hurdles—a blistering 50.65 seconds—on the 2024 Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon, on June 30, and is seeking to earn back-to-back golds in Paris.
There’s extra to McLaughlin-Levrone than what we see on the monitor, although. She’s outspoken about her religion, has an interesting household background, and she or he’s on a mission to push the game of sprinting additional. Earlier than watching her go for gold on August 8, listed here are 9 issues to know in regards to the world’s quickest 400-meter hurdler.
1. McLaughlin-Levrone comes from a household of proficient runners.
Everybody in McLaughlin-Levrone’s instant household has competed on the monitor. Her dad, Willie McLaughlin, was a three-time NCAA All-American within the 400-meter and practically made the Olympic staff himself in 1984. He was inducted into the Manhattan School Athletic Corridor of Fame in 1997. Mary McLaughlin, Sydney’s mother, ran on the boys’ monitor staff in highschool, as Folks stories.
McLaughlin-Levrone and her three siblings had an energetic childhood. “Observe and subject has all the time been a part of our lives,” McLaughlin-Levrone mentioned in an interview with the Olympic Channel Podcast. But it surely wasn’t all working on a regular basis. “Our dad and mom allow us to select what we wished to do,” she mentioned, and she or he dabbled in basketball, soccer, and dance, however, she added, “for all of us, monitor sort of stood out.”
Naturally, she was fueled by some wholesome sibling competitors. Her brother Taylor ran Division I monitor on the College of Michigan and gained silver on the World Junior under-20 championships within the 400-meter hurdles (apparently a well-liked occasion among the many McLaughlins).
2. She was impressed by Sanya Richard-Ross.
McLaughlin-Levrone caught the Olympic bug when she was 9 years outdated. She distinctly remembers watching Sanya Richards-Ross compete on the 2008 Beijing Video games, the place the American sprinter gained bronze within the 400-meter and closed an enormous hole within the 4×400-meter relay for gold. As McLaughlin-Levrone mentioned on the podcast, “I keep in mind turning to my mother and being like, ‘I wish to try this.’”
3. Qualifying for her first Olympics was a shock.
By center college, it was clear that McLaughlin-Levrone was forward of different runners her age, however the extent of her expertise wasn’t totally on show till her first Olympic trials forward of the 2016 Video games in Rio. “Once we went to the trials in 2016, we have been actually simply going for the expertise,” McLaughlin-Levrone instructed the Olympic Channel Podcast. Simply 16 on the time, she remembers considering that there was “no means” she would qualify for Staff USA within the 400-meter hurdles, which might require not less than a third-place end on the Trials. She didn’t simply qualify for the staff—she additionally beat the fourth-place finisher by over half a second (which is important in a 54-second race!).
4. The College of Kentucky was her residence away from residence for a 12 months.
After her standout highschool profession, McLaughlin-Levrone had a selection between going straight to the professionals or working within the NCAA. She determined to attend the College of Kentucky in 2017, the place she spent a 12 months she described as “very pivotal” for her athletic profession. She was uncovered to extra intense coaching and better expectations from coaches, which she mentioned, “actually gave me an inside look into what it’s prefer to be an expert,” as she instructed the Olympic Channel Podcast.
5. Sweet is her race gas of selection.
A self-proclaimed “sweet connoisseur,” McLaughlin-Levrone credit not less than a few of her pace to a prerace meal of gummy bears, Jolly Ranchers, and Starbursts. “If there’s sweet in my home, it’s not staying for greater than 24 hours,” she mentioned in an interview with GQ. If solely we might all break world data on a bag of gummy bears, McLaughlin-Levrone can be going through much more competitors.
6. Add “printed creator” to her accolades.
As if Olympic medals aren’t sufficient of an accomplishment, McLaughlin-Levrone additionally launched her first e book in January. The e book, Far Past Gold: Operating from Worry to Religion, describes how McLaughlin-Levrone managed the worry and psychological well being struggles she faces as an expert runner. In it, she discusses how her religion helped her come to phrases along with her id and cope with perfectionism, anxiousness, and impostor syndrome.
