Sometimes, the ghosts of your past can catch up with you in the most unexpected of places. Coming across buried treasures on the internet isn’t something new, and many of these can become a fad among its users. As the 4x Olympic gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone gears up for her post-Olympic adventure, it looks like even she cannot outrun feeling flustered as her fans unearth relics of the past.

In a new trend online, track and field athletes are being surprised with pictures of their younger selves as their fans request the stars to sign autographs on the images. With Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone waiting to make her appearance in the inaugural edition of Michael Johnson’s ambitious Grand Slam Track next year, one fan came across the perfect opportunity to catch the 25-year-old off guard.

A post by the official GST X account from September 15 shows how McLaughlin-Levrone struggled to keep a straight face when a fan handed her a picture from the track star’s Union Catholic Regional High School days at the Memorial Van Damme in Brussels. At the season-closing event of the 2024 Diamond League, SML ran two special races, and the fan had the perfect opportunity to remind the Olympian of how far she has come since her time as an aspiring athlete. “Girl! Where did you find this?” Sydney broke into a grin as soon as she saw the picture.

As she bent down to sign the photo, McLaughlin-Levrone couldn’t help but feel the rush of reliving her high school memories. But she also remembered how different she looked back then, and jokingly confessed, “This is so cringe.” The New Jersey native dominantly won both of the two invitational events at the Belgian capital, but the folks over at Grand Slam Track knew just the thing to use to make Sydney’s feet wobble.

“I can’t even keep a straight face, I’m weak,” acknowledged Sydney as she handed the autographed photo back to the fan. But, thankfully, she wasn’t the only star who came face-to-face with their older selves at the 2024 Diamond League finale. The middle-distance runner finished 6th in the men’s 1500m race at this year’s Diamond League finale, but the fan knew just how to bring a smile to the American’s face this weekend. Handing him a printout of the first-ever selfie the sprinter took, the fan managed to wriggle out a chuckle from Nuguse. “Oh my god, why would you do this?” said the 25-year-old University of Notre Dame alum with a broad smile.

Clocking 3:30.94, Cole Hocker finished the 1500m event in third place and took the trend rather sportingly. As he laughed at his younger self’s picture, Hocker admitted, “I feel like you could have done much worse. So I appreciate it,” beamed the recently crowned Olympic gold medalist. The scenes that unfolded in Brussels, looked like the appropriate follow-up to the trend that’s been raging across the WNBA community in recent days.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone latest to join the online prank trend

The women’s basketball stars of the country have been dealing with some dedicated pranksters over the last few days. In a newly emerged TikTok trend, fans have been bringing really old photographs of the stars to get them autographed, and comedic moments have been aplenty. Often, these pranks are also being carried out by the social media teams of the franchises, much like how McLaughlin-Levrone was confronted by the witty people from Grand Slam Track.

Teams like the Phoenix Mercury and the Indiana Fever have jumped aboard the prank train and celebrity players like Grace Berger have been confronted with some hilarious moments. On the other hand, national sensation Caitlin Clark was struck by her own looks. “Gosh, I’m so cute,” said a stunned Clark.

The trend caught a lot of attention across the USA, and now it looks like other sports are also catching up to the fad. But whose reaction made you smile more broadly? The spirited approach by the WNBA stars or the awkward confession of Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone? Who would you like to see be the next target of the trending prank? Tell us with a comment.