“I sobbed uncontrollably”- When Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone opened up about seeing her father after losing to Dalilah Muhammad at World Championships

In Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone's book Far Beyond Gold: Running From Fear to Faith, she recalled the heartbreaking moment of losing to compatriot Delilah Muhammad in the 400m hurdles at the 2019 World Athletics Championships.

After a year at the University of Kentucky, McLaughlin-Levrone forfeited her college eligibility in 2018 to turn professional. The following year, she participated in the 400m hurdles alongside Dalilah Muhammad at the 2019 World Athletics Championships. She recorded 52.23s and finished second behind Muhammad, who broke the world record. McLaughlin-Levrone faced a setback in the last hurdle and trailed despite her best efforts.

In her book, the Olympian shared how she collapsed onto the track and noticed a Team USA official cheering. When she realized that the cheer was for the world record holder only, she was left heartbroken.

"I didn't want to hear the congratulations. I didn't want to be told that I'd just run a brilliant race. I knew the truth. I'd fallen short, yet again. I've never been so disappointed, so completely crushed, after a race. After putting on a smile, congratulating Dalilah for her extraordinary achievement, and taking pictures with the American flag, I found my dad in the tunnel. When I saw him, I couldn't hold back the tears anymore."

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone further added:

"Coming in second at the World Championships broke me. I sobbed uncontrollably. There was a part of me that knew I'd just run a fast race and finished second. That wasn't bad for someone as young as I was. But I knew it wasn't enough. I wanted more."

At the 2021 US Olympic trials, McLaughlin-Levrone broke Dalilah Muhammad's world record in 51.90s, and at the 2024 Paris Olympics, she broke her own world record for the sixth time, clocking 50.37s.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone credited her faith in God for breaking Dalilah Muhammad's world record in 2021

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone at the Wanda Diamond League 2024 Final - Allianz (Source: Getty)

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone lost to Dalilah Muhammad six times before her world record-breaking feat at the 2021 Olympic trials. In an interview with Letsrundotcom in 2021, she claimed that her faith in God was the sole reason behind her world record-breaking achievement.

"Dalilah is a great competitor but I think I was growing into my own person and I think the biggest difference this year is my faith, trusting God and trusting that process and knowing that he's in control of everything and as long as I put the hard work in, he's gonna carry me through and I really cannot do anything more but give the glory to him," McLaughlin-Levrone said.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone ended her season with 200m and 400m invitational races at the 2024 Diamond League finals in Brussels.