Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone's coach shows support to 25-year-old and his wife Jackie Joyner-Kersee in unique fashion

Bob Kersee, the coach of four-time Olympic gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, recently expressed his support for both his protégé and his wife, the legendary track and field icon Jackie Joyner-Kersee, in a lighthearted way.

Kersee has been coaching McLaughlin-Levrone since 2020 after the latter joined forces with him following a two-year stint with the former 100m hurdles Olympic champion Joanna Hayes. Under Kersee's guidance, the 25-year-old achieved several milestones, including two gold medals in the 4x400m relay and 400m hurdles at the 2022 World Athletics Championships.

In addition, McLaughlin-Levrone became the Olympic champion for the first time in Tokyo in 2021, winning golds in both the 400m hurdles and 4x400m relay. The hurdling sensation successfully defended both titles at this year's Paris Olympics in a dominating fashion.

Furthermore, she was also the first female hurdler to break the sub-52 and sub-51 barriers in the 400m hurdles, achieving these milestones under Kersee's tutelage in 2021 and 2022, respectively. She also holds the current world record in the 400m hurdles at 50.37 seconds, the time she clocked at the Paris Olympics finals.

Beyond their camaraderie on the track, Bob Kersee and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone share a great bond off the field as well. It was recently highlighted in an Instagram story posted by McLaughlin-Levrone where Kersee was seen wearing one Adidas shoe and one New Balance.

The choice was made to symbolize his support for his wife Jackie Joyner-Kersee, who was a member of the Adidas Supervisory Board during her professional days, while the New Balance shoe represented his backing of McLaughlin-Levrone, who is sponsored by the company.

"When he supports me and Jackie at the same time," the Olympian wrote in the caption

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone's Instagram Story

---

"I approached him" - Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone reflects on her first meeting with Bob Kersee

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 (Image via Getty)

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone once revealed that she was the one who approached Kersee after spotting him on the track. During their first meeting, she articulated her aspirations, and the two began working towards her goal ever since.

"I approached him. I saw him on the track one day and we sat down and had a meeting and I just kind of expressed my hopes and dreams and goals as an athlete and he said that he could make those happen," she said (via her March 2021 interview with Citius Mag) [7:35 onwards]

She added:

"I think it always takes time to build that rapport with the coach and that trust but once I started seeing the results as time progressed I just knew he knew what he was doing and I haven't doubted him since that first year and now we're just along for the ride."

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone also noted that they were both trying to understand each other during their first year together, but he soon realized that she was very much like Jackie Joyner-Kersee, and things became easy for them moving forward.