You’d think that making it to the Olympics as a high school student would make you a celebrity. While that was true for Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone after returning from Rio 2016, her senior year in high school became “a difficult landscape.” While the year had started off with the exciting prospect of improving her craft, “high school drama” dampened her hopes.

Besides having a silent expectation to do even better, Levrone felt left out by her peers. “People were looking at me a certain way.” Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone wrote. It was as if participating in the Olympics had raised the bar for everything in life. However, it wasn’t until a month into her senior year that the Olympic gold medalist realized her peers’ perceptions had changed.

The fact that Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone had reached the grandest stage at such a young age didn’t sit well with many. Soon this disdain turned into a silent form of bullying. “During most practices, there was exclusion, whispering, jokes, and at times rude comments,” she wrote in her book Far Beyond Gold: Running from Fear to Faith. This treatment would lead McLaughlin Levrone to take a drastic step before nationals.

The four-time Olympic gold medalist became so frustrated with this “adolescent pettiness” that she finally snapped. When the school’s track team coach asked Sydney to join the shuttle hurdles relay team with her peers, she refused. McLaughlin-Levrone was the Union Catholic track team’s star athlete, especially in the hurdles.

So her refusal took the coach by surprise. “Sydney, it’s a national title.” said her coach, struggling to believe the Olympian’s reply. However, the track and field icon did not budge. “I sat out the race, forfeiting a national title for myself and the other girls.” wrote the three-time world champion. However, it wasn’t just the bullying that led to such a drastic reaction.

While the treatment from her peers pushed Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone over the edge, there was another underlying issue. Long before making it to the Olympics, the 400m hurdles world record holder struggled with anxiety that came from the pressure to live up to expectations.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone’s battle with self-doubt

The burden of talent shaped how the hurdler viewed herself as she grew up. Touted to be a prodigy, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone considered every race she didn’t win to be a failure. Unfortunately, this approach gave birth to crippling anxiety. Every race became a trial by fire, and it got so bad that McLaughlin-Levrone wanted to pull out of the 2016 US Olympic trials.

In her article for Guide Post, the 25-year-old revealed that she called her father ahead of the race. “Can I please pull out?” the track and field prodigy begged. While Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone ultimately raced and made it to Rio, the anxiety didn’t leave her. However, this time the hurdler couldn’t overcome it.

“Partway through my semifinal, my will to win left me. Instead of my usual surge in the last seconds, I let up,” the Paris Olympic double-gold medalist confessed. Earlier this year, the 25-year-old explained that it was fear that she wouldn’t win the semi-finals that led to her giving up on the tracks. “Honestly, I robbed myself of an opportunity,” McLaughlin-Levrone said during a CNB Sport interview in March 2024.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone was still battling with this self-doubt when her senior year started. So it’s no surprise that the added expectation and unspoken bullying reached a boiling point, leading her to forfeit a national title.