"If I wasn't afraid of disappointing my parents, why was I dreading finals?" - When Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone recalled being terrified of Olympics

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone once revealed that she was terrified to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics. The American runner did eventually qualify but failed to advance past the semifinals at the Games.

McLaughlin-Levrone came to the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials as a 16-year-old high schooler but had produced fast times in her junior career. She had won the World Youth Championships in the preceding year, clocking 55.94s for the gold medal in Colombia.

However, the 25-year-old was dreading the Olympics and didn't want to compete at the trials. But she couldn't understand why did she not want to qualify for the biggest sporting event. Recalling her quandary in her 2024 memoir 'Far Beyond Gold: Running From Fear to Faith', she wrote:

"Why was this happening to me? Why, suddenly, did I want nothing to do with my dreams of Olympic glory? It wasn’t because I thought I had no chance of making the team. By any objective standard, I was one of the fastest in the field. I had every reason to believe not only that I belonged but also that if I performed to my capabilities, I would punch my ticket to Rio."

The 25-year-old further added that while she wasn't afraid of disappointing her parents, who have been former athletes themselves.

"I wasn’t afraid of disappointing my parents. They never pressured me into running. They never made it seem like their happiness depended on my success. My mom and dad were both incredible runners," Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone added.

The four-time Olympic champion later hinted at her fear of losing as one of the reasons she didn't want to compete at the trials or Olympics.

"If I wasn’t afraid of losing or terrified of disappointing my parents, why was I dreading the finals? Fueling my fear was an idea I couldn’t shake: a sense of identity that came to define me. As a sixteen-year-old, I’d convinced myself that my worth and value were intertwined with my performance on the track. It wasn’t enough just to be a runner; I had to be a winner," she wrote.

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Sydney Mclaughlin-Levrone's unbeaten streak in the Olympic Games post her Rio Olympics loss

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone won the 2024 Female Track Athlete of The Year award (Source: Getty)

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone placed fifth in her first heat at the Rio Olympics, clocking 54.32s to advance to the semifinals. She placed fifth again in the semifinals in 54.22s but failed to advance to the finals. The 25-year-old later confessed that she had deliberately lost her race.

However, the 25-year-old has since been undefeated at the Olympics. She returned to the quadrennial event at the Tokyo Olympics and won the gold medals in the women's 400m hurdles and 4x400m relay while also breaking the world record in the former event.

McLaughlin-Levrone scripted a repeat of her Tokyo campaign at the 2024 Paris Olympics. She clocked a blistering 50.37s for the new world record to win the 400m hurdles title before running the third fastest 4x400m relay split in history to win her fourth career gold medal.