Humble, talented, beautiful, and one of the most phenomenal athletes we will ever witness, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone.
I quite literally don’t know where to begin when it comes to this absolutely amazing woman. If you’ve seen her performances leading up to this year’s Olympics, you would know that she is a force to be reckoned with.
In 2016, at just sixteen old McLaughlin qualified for the U.S. Olympic team and set the world record for under-18 with a time of 54.15 which is absolutely INSANE. Since then, she has grown, breaking record after record.
McLaughlin has broken the 400m record not once, nor twice, but five times. She is unreal.
During the Olympics, everyone knew that the 400m hurdles race was simply a race against herself. Considering that McLaughlin is the incredibly blessed athlete that she is, most would think that no one in their right mind would bet against her.
CLEARLY, the Sydney slanderers are not in their right mind. I saw so many Instagram comments on how the Netherlands’ Femke Bol was going to beat her, but I just assumed that those people knew nothing about track. Bol’s personal record is 50.95, while McLaughlin’s personal record (the world record) before the Olympics was 50.65.
She beat her own record AGAIN at the Paris 2024 Olympics with an incredible time of 50.37.
After dominating the 400 hurdles, she ran a phenomenal second leg of the women’s 4×400 meter relay. If you haven’t watched that race yet, I suggest you do so – like, right now.
From the second the baton hit her hand, the race was over, and I’m not even exaggerating. She looked so relaxed and controlled, like she didn’t have the other teams fighting for their lives.
McLaughlin ran an incredible split of 47.8 creating a huge gap for the 200m gold medalist Gabby Thomas to take the baton for the third leg. The women’s 4x400m relay was amazing from start to finish and was absolutely my favorite race to watch during the Olympics.
While it’s fun to watch, it’s not so fun to run…and I know this first hand. (Coach Pittman, if you see this I’m just playing, I love the 4×4.)
Enough with that. Let me get into why she’s one of my fav’s. I genuinely love how humble McLaughlin is. With all of the golds and world records that she’s earned she has UNLIMITED bragging rights, but handles it all with grace.
I also LOVE how vocal McLaughlin is about her faith. She honors Christ after every win which is absolutely beautiful and admirable. At times, you can see her praying while getting settled into her blocks. Lately, there has been some speculation online about McLaughlin losing some of her endorsements if she doesn’t stop unapologetically speaking her faith.
We all know that the media spreads rumors like wildfire so there is a possibility that this isn’t true, but even if it were, sadly I wouldn’t be surprised.
Everyone has the right to speak and thank their faith. Like the humble beauty she is, McLaughlin addresses everyone’s questions by saying, “I’ve heard a lot of things about losing endorsements. But I mean, I don’t live for people’s approval, so I don’t have to worry about any of that. If somebody wants to drop an endorsement or something, I know what God will provide for me in the way he sees fit.” All with a smile on her face.
McLaughlin is a role model for many track athletes, including myself. I can’t wait to see her break another one of her own records in the future. Oh, and like I said, if you haven’t watched the women’s Olympic 4×400, GO TAP IN.
