Let’s throw it back to the year 2016 when the world of track and field got introduced to a name that would soon be everywhere—Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone. 17-year-old Sydney was about to step onto the Olympic stage for the very first time in Rio. While we all recognize the immense significance of the Olympics, making your debut on the sport’s pinnacle stage? That’s a whole other next level!

Like any athlete stepping into the global spotlight for the first time, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone couldn’t escape the nerves and doubts swirling inside her. Eight years later, with four Olympic golds and the title of the world record queen crown firmly on her head, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone has finally opened up about the fears that haunted her mind as she prepared for her races.

In her book Far Beyond Gold, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone recalled the days leading up to her qualifying heat, explaining how she finally hit the track with her high school coach, Mike McCabe, after recovering from illness. “We didn’t work too hard,” she wrote, knowing the focus was simply to get her back over a few hurdles. In her teenage imagination, Sydney thought the Olympics would feel different, almost magical. She imagined the grand stage turning athletes into the best versions of themselves.

But the reality was far less glamorous. “I could see myself unable to get off the starting blocks, then running in slow motion,” she said, with all eyes on her and “millions of TV viewers” watching as she stumbled around the track. She even pictured the worst-case scenario: “Broken limbs, tears streaming down my face, just an absolute mess,” with the camera zooming in on her painful fall.

However, when race day finally arrived, the reality wasn’t that dramatic. Sydney confessed she didn’t sleep much the night before her first heat, waking up multiple times with her legs twitching and her mind running wild with images of the track. She could barely eat breakfast, joking that she took a break from her usual 20-item McDonald’s menu.

That familiar knot of nerves had settled deep in her stomach. But when the moment finally came, it wasn’t the dramatic scene she imagined. It was just another race under the Olympic lights. So, how did her 2016 Olympic experience really go?

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone’s first Olympic steps in 2016

So, here’s the scoop: Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone kicked off her Olympic journey as a 16-year-old high schooler who totally crushed it at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials. She snagged third place with a mind-blowing new world junior record in the 400m hurdles at 54.15 seconds, making her the youngest American track and field athlete to qualify for the Olympics since 1980.

Fast forward to the 2016 Rio Olympics—Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone made it all the way to the semifinals, but the finals? Just out of reach. That disappointment hit hard, and she found herself at a low point as she geared up for the 2020 Tokyo Games. But when it came time to shine, she didn’t just settle for gold—she smashed her own world record in the 400m hurdles! Talk about making a statement.

Then in 2024, Sydney continued to make history. She returned to the Olympic stage, grabbed another gold, and, as if the universe hadn’t seen enough magic and broke her own world record again. Not once, not twice—but for the sixth time! Now that’s what we call a comeback for the ages!