Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone has been running the track and field game like a boss for a while now. Seriously, her dominance in the 400-meter hurdles is unmatched—she’s broken the world record six times! If that’s not enough to drop your jaw, her win at the Paris Olympics only solidified her place as the queen of hurdles, bringing her back to where her epic streak first began.

Flashback to the Tokyo Olympics three years ago—that’s when she truly burst onto the global stage, snagging her first Olympic gold and breaking the world record with a jaw-dropping time of 51.46 seconds. Oh, and she had just gotten engaged to her now-husband and former NFL player, Andre Levrone Jr., so life was looking pretty rosy! But here’s the kicker—right before all those golden moments, Sydney hit rock bottom. She’s openly admitted it was one of the darkest and loneliest times of her life!

Why did Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone fall into a dark place before the Tokyo Olympics?

It started with tough losses to Dalilah Muhammad—first at the 2019 Toyota USATF Outdoor Track & Field Championships, where Sydney had to settle for second place with a time of 52.88 seconds to Dalilah Muhammad’s 52.20, and then again against the same opponent at the IAAF World Championships (Doha), finishing just 0.07 seconds behind, despite registering the third-fastest time ever. Dalilah was simply in her element, breaking her own world record at Khalifa International Stadium.

Just when things couldn’t seem worse, COVID hit with its pangs of isolation, and most importantly, halting the world and her dreams as the Tokyo Olympics got postponed. In her book ‘Far Beyond Gold’, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone has spoken candidly about the dark phase she went through in 2019 and early 2020.

“Not long ago after the Olympics was canceled, I hit rock bottom,” Sydney confessed. “I had nowhere to turn. I was lonely, anxious, and desperate for help. After I didn’t find what I was looking for in therapy, I finally turned to God. He used the isolation of COVID and the recent heartaches in Doha and failed relationships to bring me to himself, so I could begin to understand how to make him the priority.

“If that process hadn’t begun in the early part of my career, I don’t know if I would have been ready for a relationship with Andre when we met that August.

“Through those trials, God taught me so much. Though they were all difficult, exhausting, emotional experiences, I’m grateful for them. They helped me understand how to rely on Christ, not myself, in any situation. They were refining me into the woman God wanted me to be.”

Sydney started becoming religious around the same time she met Andre Levrone Jr. online. Sydney revealed in her book that he had slid into her DMs after she uploaded a story of herself captioning it with ‘Attention’. He had promptly texted her, saying, “You have my attention. How can I get yours?” 

Sydney and Andre Levrone has inside jokes dating back to their second date!

Had Sydney not found faith at the time before she met Andre, things might have looked very different now. This is because former wide receiver has always been deeply religious. In fact, the hurdler had revealed to the Knot that in their early days of dating, he had invited Sydney to a group Bible study. The Knot Magzine’s 2022 cover star realized then that this man would lead her closer to her faith.

Although it didn’t need Sydney more than just four dates to know where she wants this relationship headed, there was a funny incident when over-preparedness got the better of them. It was just their second date on a beach. Sydney recalled, “We went to the beach, brought food and realized we forgot forks. We ate salmon with our bare hands! It’s become an inside joke now—I carry forks with me everywhere I go. But it was such a bonding moment for us.”

In 2021, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone got engaged to her husband Andre Levrone Jr. after eight months. of dating. Talking to The Knot, she had said that he popped the question to her during her birthday celebration in Arizona with her friends. The NFL star had surprised her on the lawn as he held the ring and popped the question.

After their engagement, Sydney described him as “the most God-fearing, passionate, honest, loving, hardworking, protective, and genuine man” she has ever met. In May 2022, the couple got married at the Early Mountain Vineyards, Virginia. Since then, they have always been by each other’s side through every turn life has taken. Hopefully, they stay as supportive of each other in the future too.