"No wonder Olympics fueled my identity crisis" - When Sydney Mclaughlin-Levrone opened up about her fears ahead of Olympic debut as a 16-year-old

Sydney Mclaughlin-Levrone once recalled that she went through an identity crisis in 2016 while preparing for the Rio Olympics. The American hurdler failed to qualify for the 400m hurdles finals in Rio but has since won the event twice at the 2020 and 2024 Olympic Games.

McLaughlin-Levrone started running at an early age, and according to her parents Mary and Willie McLaughlin, she was 'special' from the start. She quickly rose to prominence after breaking several high school records during her time at the Union Catholic Regional High School.

The 25-year-old was equally impressive in the junior circuits and won the gold medal at the 2015 World Youth Championships in the 400m hurdles. She was the fastest junior sprinter of the year in the event in 2015 before setting herself up for the Olympic challenge in 2016.

While McLaughlin-Levrone was impressive in 2016 as well, she once said she faced an 'identity crisis' during the preparations for the Rio Olympics. Recalling the journey of her 16-year-old self in her 2024 memoir 'Far Beyond Gold: Running from Fear to Faith', she wrote:

"No wonder the Olympics fueled my identity crisis. Losing seemed inevitable. If I didn’t lose at the trials, I was almost guaranteed to lose, or so I assumed, at the actual Olympics."

"That hadn’t been the case in the races I’d been running during the previous couple of years. Whether it was a track meet through my high school or the 2015 Youth World Championships in Cali, Colombia, I’d always been confident that if I did what I was supposed to, I would come out on top. That was because those races were familiar, and the competitors were my age," Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone added.

While the 25-year-old was nonetheless impressive at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials, placing 3rd in 54.15s to qualify for the Rio Olympics, she failed to replicate a similar performance at the Games. McLaughlin-Levrone finished fifth in her heat in Rio to qualify for the semifinals, where she ran 56.22s to finish fifth.

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Sydney Mclaughlin-Levrone broke the 400m hurdles world record for a sixth time at the 2024 Paris Olympics

Wanda Diamond League 2024 Final - Allianz Memorial Van Damme Brussels - Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone wins 200m (Source: Getty)

From failing to qualify for the finals on her Olympic debut to winning back-to-back titles in subsequent Games, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone has gone on to become arguably the greatest 400m hurdler in history.

McLaughlin-Levrone first broke the 400m hurdles record at the 2021 Olympic Trials, running a blistering 51.90s. She broke the record again at the Tokyo Olympic Games, running 51.46s to win her maiden Olympic gold medal.

The 25-year-old lowered the mark twice each in 2022 and 2024. She ran 50.37s at the Paris Olympics to win her second consecutive Olympic title in the 400m hurdles and set a new world record. McLaughlin-Levrone also won the gold medal in the women's 4x400m relay in Paris.