“Maybe she’s not as scary as I thought”- When Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone reflected on defeating Dalilah Muhammad for first time

American track athlete Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone once opened up about beating Dalilah Muhammad for the first time in her career. It was at the 2019 Diamond League meet in Oslo that McLaughlin-Levrone and Muhammad locked horns in the 400m hurdles event.

Muhammad was then the 400m hurdles Olympic champion, whereas Mclaughlin-Levrone was slowly on her rise in the international level. In Oslo, McLaughlin-Levrone emerged victorious after clocking a time of 54.16 seconds while her counterpart managed to touch the finishing line in 54.35 seconds.

Speaking about this race in her book, Far Beyond Gold: Running from Fear to Faith, McLaughlin-Levron stated that she fell back during the race in Oslo but recovered quite impressively to overtake the athletes in front of her, including Muhammad.

She further mentioned that after the race, she realized that Muhammad was not as "scary" as she had thought. She wrote:

"I was patient that day. Dalilah is a pacesetter. From the starting blocks, she moved out front and pushed the field. I had smashed the first hurdle with my trail leg and nearly wiped out. I fell behind by a lot that day, but I came roaring back over the final 100 meters, roaring past several racers, including Dalilah, to take first place. Crouching just past the finish line, gasping for breath, I remember thinking, Oh, maybe she’s not as scary as I thought. This isn’t too bad."

A couple of years later, after this race, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone defeated Muhammad at the Tokyo Olympics and bagged her first Olympic gold medal.

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Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone registers impressive performance at Michael Johnson's Grand Slam Track

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone with the United States flag during the 4x400m relays during the Tokyo quadrennial games (Image via: Getty Images)

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone recently defeated Dalilah Muhammad to win the Women's long hurdles category at Michael Johnson's Grand Slam Track stop in Kingston. McLaughlin-Levrone won both the 400m hurdles and 400m races to win the stop after gathering 24 points, while Muhammad finished second in the category (14 points).

Speaking about her performance in the event during a press interview, McLaughlin-Levrone said (via Citius Mag, 00:18 onwards):

"I'm happy with that for the first one, just coming out of this weekend healthy and happy with the first two races."

During the conversation, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone also remarked that she was quite happy with the suport she received from the crowd, especially in a stadium (in Kingston) she hadn't been to in the past.