"Having the whole world have an opinion" - Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone boldly calls out media for peddling false stories about athletes

American track and field athlete Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone recently expressed her thoughts regarding the nature of media in the current day and age and its portrayal of track and field athletes. This comes just a few days after the three-time Olympic gold medalist bagged the World Athletics' Female Track Athlete of the Year award.

In an interview with World Athletics, McLaughlin-Levrone stated that the stories the media portrays are not always true. However, she also mentioned that for a young athlete the attention and the comments that the media showers on them are quite 'overwhelming'. She said:

"I don’t think this will be a shock to the media but I think that for me would be the media and their opinions and stories of you they write. I know it’s their job to get an interesting story, but their story may not always reflect the truth."

She further added:

"To any young athlete who is still very impressionable and trying to discover who they are, having the whole world have an opinion about them can be a little overwhelming."

During the interview, McLaughlin-Levrone also spoke about sending a warning to aspiring track and field athletes about the media image and its portrayal. She had also earlier spoken about staying away from social media fame before the 2016 Olympics.

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Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone opens up about her arch-rival Femke Bol

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone during the press match conference of the 2024 World Athletics Awards in Monaco (Image via: Getty Images)

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone expressed her thoughts regarding her arch-rival, Femke Bol. In an interview, the American hurdler called Bol a "wonderful competitor" and praised her for her quality of improving day by day. She said (via World Athletics):

"Obviously Femke is a wonderful competitor and there are so many women in our event that are just getting faster and faster. So you always have to show respect for your opposition because you never know what anyone is going to produce on any given day."

Despite the prowess of Femke Bol, McLaughlin-Levrone has been able to beat the Dutch athlete in all three 400m hurdles encounters. The American athlete got the better of Femke twice in the Olympic Games (in 2021 Tokyo and 2024 in Paris).

In both these events, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone clinched gold and the Dutch clinched bronze. Additionally, she also defeated Bol at the 2022 World Championships in Oregon. Both athletes are also in close contact with the World rankings, Bol holds the first position currently with 1494 points whereas McLaughlin-Levrone is in the second position with 1462 points.