"I just don’t want to do this right now" - When Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone spoke to her father about discontinuing track and field in school

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone once reflected on the moment when she spoke to her father Willie about discontinuing track and field in school. She recalled how a loss in the 200m at the 2008 AAU Junior Olympic Games in Michigan left her crushed and embarrassed.

While other athletes trained under a club, McLaughlin-Levrone was coached by her father. Following the loss, she told her father that she no longer wanted to compete in the track circuit but was still open to trying other sports.

Following her father's approval, McLaughlin-Levrone diverted her focus to other sports like soccer, basketball and dance, which improved her strength, rhythm and coordination. Years later, as she returned to the track in middle school, McLaughlin-Levrone felt physically stronger and eager to compete, avoiding any burnout.

In her autobiography Far Beyond Gold: Running from Fear to Faith, published in January 2024, McLaughlin-Levrone highlighted the moment, writing:

"When we returned to New Jersey after the meet, I told Dad I wanted a change. 'I don’t want to do the track circuits anymore,' I said. He looked at me, surprised. He clearly needed some convincing. 'I’ll do other sports. I just don’t want to do this right now.' I’ll always be grateful for what my dad said next. 'All right,' he agreed. 'You can run as little or as much as you want. But why don’t you give track another shot in middle school?'"

"Kind of locked in the zone" - Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone opens up about her approach while competing

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone during the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris, France. (Photo via Getty Images)

So far in her career, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone has won four Olympic gold medals. In an interview with Life & Books & Everything, she opened up about her mentality while competing in a race.

The multiple-time Olympian stated that she stays focused during the races, treating them like a regular UCLA practice and executing techniques taught by her coach.

"It's really just like kind of locked in the zone," she said. "I think for that race specifically my coach and I we've practiced you know kind of what we're trying to execute before and he just was like this is no different than being at UCLA's track on a Tuesday and I'm standing in the middle of the field with my stopwatch. You know just execute the same way we do and so that's really all I was focusing on."

At the 2024 Paris Games, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone defended her 400m hurdles and 4x400m relay titles. She dominated the individual event by clocking a world record of 50:37 seconds.