Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone drops one-word reaction to Riley Kehoe's memoir recounting her tsunami survival

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone recently expressed her admiration toward author Riley Kehoe as the latter launched her memoir reflecting on her survival of the 2004 Southeast Asian tsunami in Thailand. Kehoe penned a moving account of her survival journey in Three Seconds of Courage: How Small Acts of Bravery Lead to Big Change.

While being only ten in 2004, Kehoe was delighting in a vacation with her family in Thailand when the Boxing Day tsunami struck. The unfortunate event killed over 290,000 people, which the author survived.

10 years following the incident, she captured the harrowing tale in a memoir, the announcement of which she made on her social media, writing:

"After that traumatic event killed nearly 230,000 people, I began asking myself each day, What do I want to do with this gift of life I’ve been given? I realized that I could let fear rule over me—or I could choose to have courage. It’s not just a survival story; it’s your guide on how to rise in courage."

McLaughlin-Levrone, an American sprinter and author of Far Beyond Gold: Running from Fear to Faith shared the post on her Instagram story and commended Kehoe.

"Proud," wrote McLaughlin-Levrone adding a teary eye and white heart emoji.

Screenshot of McLaughlin-Levrone's Instagram story.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone receives the honor of the 44th annual Kentucky Sports Figure of the Year award

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone of the United States during the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris, France. (Photo via Getty Images)

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone was recently honored with the 44th annual Kentucky Sports Figure of the Year award for her striking performance at the Paris Games.

The award was announced by Lexington Herald-Leader on Tuesday, January 28, 2025, after being determined by a vote of 138 current and former media members. During her collegiate career, the Olympian was an NCAA Champion in 2018.

At the 2024 Paris Games, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone bagged two gold medals in the 400m hurdles and 4x400m relay events. The four-time Olympic medalist registered a world record of 50.37 seconds to dominate the individual event in Paris.

She defeated her teammate Anna Cockrell and her fiercest rival Femke Bol, who posted 51.87 and 52.15 seconds, respectively. Further, the hurdler ran a stunning second leg of 47.71 seconds in the 4x400m relay event. The American squad, including Shamier Little, Gabby Thomas, and Alexis Holmes listed a remarkable time of 3:15.27 to defeat the Dutch and British squads.