"I was like, 'Oh my gosh what am I gonna do?'" - When Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone recalled being confused after qualifying for Olympic debut

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone once recalled that she was puzzled after qualifying for the 2016 Olympics. The American hurdler made her Olympic debut at the 2016 Rio Olympics but didn't win any medals.

McLaughlin-Levrone competed at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials as a 16-year-old following record-breaking -pursuits in the junior and school career. She was at her teenage best at the trials, winning her heat and semifinal race in an impressive 55.46 and 55.23 respectively.

The then 16-year-old broke her personal best in the finals, clocking 54.15s for third place to become the youngest American athlete since 1980 to make the US track and field Olympic team. However, she didn't know whether she should be happy or scared of the challenge ahead.

Speaking in an interview with FloTrack in 2021, McLaughlin-Levrone said:

"When I crossed the line, I didn't know whether I was more happy that I was done or more scared that I just realized I made the team. That was my thought I was like 'oh my gosh what am I gonna do.'" [9:08 onwards]

It later turned out that the American sprinter was more scared, and the first thing she did after the race was tell her mother that she was going to go to the Rio Olympics. In her 2024 memoir 'Far Beyond Gold: Running From Fear to Faith', Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone said:

"The first familiar face I saw after the race was my mom...When I saw my mom, I didn’t break into tears of joy or start gushing about how I’d accomplished my dream. Instead, as we waited in the tent for the medal ceremony, surrounded by dozens of people or so, I loudly announced, “I’m not going. You can’t make me go. I already talked to Dad about it.”

However, the four-time Olympic champion was convinced by her parents, Willie and Mary McLaughlin, to compete at the Olympic trials and she eventually did.

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Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone partially wanted to fail at the 2016 Rio Olympics

Brussels Diamond League 2024 - Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone in action - Source: Getty

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone felt under immense pressure at the 2016 Rio Olympics, and it was evident in her first race at the event only. She barely advanced from the first round, clocking 56.32 for a fifth-place finish in her heat.

The 25-year-old also didn't touch 55 seconds in the semifinal and failed to qualify for the finals. Later in her 2024 memoir, McLaughlin-Levrone revealed she had deliberately slowed down during the race.

"Around the final turn, my patented final push to the finish line didn’t show up. I didn’t even try to find it. Instead, I slowed down just enough to make sure I wouldn’t make it to the finals," Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone wrote.

The then 17-year-old did regret her decision and would absolutely dominate the Olympics in her next two appearances. She won two gold medals in Tokyo, broke the 400m hurdles world, and repeated the feat in Paris in 2024.