"I woke up next morning and I was like: 'This is not real life'"- When Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone qualified for her first Olympic Games

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone became the youngest athlete in 40 years to qualify for the USA Track and Field Olympic Team in 2016. She was only sixteen years of age when the 2016 Rio Olympics started in early August.

McLaughlin-Levrone rose to the spotlight after breaking the 400-m hurdles American junior record at the 2016 New Balance Indoor national high school championships. She clocked a blistering 54.46 to set the tone for her journey towards the Olympic Games.

In the same year, McLaughlin-Levrone broke the world junior record as well. She finished third at the USA Olympic Track and Field Team trials, with a timing of 54.15s. As such, she became the youngest American track and field athlete to qualify for the Olympics since Carol Lewis and Denean Howard qualified for the Moscow Olympics in 1980.

Becoming an Olympian is a dream of every athlete, and it was no different for McLaughlin-Levrone. Speaking in an interview with the Guardian in 2020, the fastest 400-m hurdler in the world recalled the time she booked her ticket to the Olympics, claiming that it was an unreal moment she couldn't believe.

“Honestly, even after I made the team, I couldn’t believe it. I woke up the next morning, and I was like: ‘This is not real life’,” she claimed.

However, she didn't win a medal at the Rio Olympics 2016. McLauglin-Levrone finished fifth in her 400-m hurdles semifinals, and couldn't make it to the finals. But nonetheless, it was a learning curve for her, she admitted.

“I think it actually took me going to Rio to understand that, OK, this one is out of the way … now I can really go to the Olympics.”, she added.

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Can McLaughlin-Levrone defend her 400-m hurdles title at the Paris Olympics 2024?

2024 USATF Los Angeles Grand Prix

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone was at the peak of her powers in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. She defeated previous world record holder Dalilah Muhammad to win the gold medal in a time of 51.46 seconds. Since then, she has surpassed it twice, and she currently owns a personal best of 50.68 seconds, which she set at the World Championships the previous year.

McLaughlin-Levrone has been on a dominant run in 2024 as well. In her first 400m hurdle race of the year (Edwin Moses Legends Meet 2024), the 24-year-old clocked a world-leading time to win the gold.

Her closest competitor at the Paris Olympics 2024 will be Femke Bol, who clocked 53.07s at the Stockholm Diamond League. With a personal best of 51.45s, the Dutch star doesn't seem to be much of a threat to Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone's title defense.