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Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone once reflected on a sleep-deprived race early in her career, which was among her first after going professional. The hurdler turned professional in June 2018, foregoing her college eligibility after representing the University of Kentucky for one year.
In 2019, she traveled to China to compete in the 400m dash at the Diamond League meet in Shanghai. However, her body didn’t adjust to the long flight, and the unfamiliar food didn’t help either. With her race scheduled for 4 AM Los Angeles time, she showed clear signs of jet lag and exhaustion throughout the trip.
McLaughlin-Levrone reflected on this experience in her memoir Far Beyond Gold: Running from Fear to Faith, sharing that she had never felt such exhaustion before. Additionally, she was so exhausted that she almost ran into someone just before the race. In the book, she wrote:
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“I remember chugging coffee minutes before the race, and I almost ran into a woman from being so exhausted. I’d never done that before. Can’t imagine I’ll ever do it again. I remember yawning while I warmed up. I remember yawning while I warmed up and thinking, ‘I might actually fall asleep while I run.'”
The exhaustion didn’t ease during the race as she reflected on feeling like she was ‘running on sand,’ with her legs feeling like bricks. Although Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone managed to finish second with a time of 50.78s, the experience taught her many lessons including the importance of carrying her own food.
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone shares first thoughts after her big win at Grand Slam Track
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone ran her first two races of the 2025 season at the Grand Slam Track’s inaugural leg in Kingston. After comprehensively defeating the field in the 400m flat, her second race as part of the long hurdles race group at the Grand Slam Track, the American reflected on her performance, stating (0:11 onwards):
“I knew the wind was going to be bad but when they told me it was minus 5 I was like, 'Okay that makes sense why I felt like I was going backwards a little bit.' But, I'm happy with that for the first one, just coming out of this weekend healthy, um and yeah happy with the first two races and we got a long way to go.”
Earlier, during her season opener on April 6, she competed in her signature event, the 400m hurdles, where she secured a comfortable victory, clocking 52.76s. The 25-year-old was so dominant that Dalilah Muhammad, who placed second, finished with a time of 54.59s.
Notably, the Grand Slam Track is a league founded by U.S. track legend Michael Johnson, offering $100,000 to the winner of each race group in each meeting. Instead of one event, athletes must compete in two races within their group, with combined results determining the Slam champion.
