The dynamic realm of track and field sports is habituated to watching rapid changes in the record book. With the days passing by, the list of frontrunners and challengers can experience shiftings. In the fast-paced world of sports, some athletes continuously aim to push the limits on their own, time and time again. Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone is particularly notable in that chart. In the last three years, she has changed the world record for the women’s 400m hurdles six times. Surprisingly, three of those have come through defeating her arch-rival Femke Bol. But has the scenario been that easy throughout the time? 

No, it has not been. Rather, Sydney had to go through different emotions throughout this duration. In her first meeting with the Dutch superstar during the Tokyo Olympics, she felt meek, as her technical supremacy had yet to be achieved. However, her coach, Bob Kersee, was all behind her to push her limits. Yet, that may have been a factor behind her victory against Bol.

Remember, SML earned her victory by registering a new world record in the women’s 400m hurdles event. Next time, when she countered the Dutch athlete, she had already changed the world record three times. Still, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone felt the rush. It was the first time she was facing Femke Bol in the World Athletics Championships (in 2022).

A lot of emotions ran through her. In fact, in her book, “Far Beyond Gold: Running from Fear to Faith,” Sydney mentioned the moment to be “mentally exhausting.” In the end, she won the race again, setting a world record. However, her experiences demonstrated that a normal person persists behind the legend. That normal person feels tension. A profound feeling even causes her to fear losing everything. At that point, she looks up for motivation. 

Before her 400mH final at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, the 25-year-old felt all those beats. However, two individuals appeared in the scene to comfort her. The first one was her husband, Andre Levrone. He advised her to seek safety in the almighty by reciting the Biblical verse. Sydney followed that. The second one was Sydney’s track guardian, Bob Kersee. 

The legendary mentor applied his own way to sponge out the pressure from his student. In her book, McLaughlin-Levrone went to length to describe it. She wrote, “Bobby called and talked as if the race were already over and I’d accomplished my goals.” But in the meantime, the Olympic champion set her map of how to take another win by overpowering the rivals. 

It was the simple application of the two words, “Attack everything.” Meanwhile, on the penultimate day, the New Jersey native found another advantage. In the semifinal, Sydney had to enter the race with a randomly chosen lane number. In her case, it had been eight. That’s why she failed to keep an eye on her competitors during the event. But in the final, she received lane 5 while Femke Bol was in lane four, just behind her, and another competitor, Dalilah Muhammad, stood at six. “Right where I needed them to be,” Sydney has written in her book. In the end, the leaderboard showed that the 22-year-old had broken the world record again. 

This time, she shaved 0.73 seconds from her record set on June 25 of that year. Femke’s challenge fell short despite her season-best timing (52.27) in the event. She snagged the silver while Daliah put on the bronze medal. However, another achievement was still waiting for Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone. 

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone earned her flowers from her arch-rival 

Before the race, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone had gone through several emotions, failing to sum up her route to victory. But her coach’s advice came to her at the optimum moment. After that, she murmured to herself, “I have never been more ready.” In the race as well, Sydney blinked at nothing. All that mattered to her was jumping over the last hurdle and finishing before anyone else. Describing this mindset, she has penned down, “This was it. I felt it as if this was the last race I’d ever run.” In the post-race interaction as well, the athlete displayed her gratitude to her coach for standing beside her at the relevant time. 

Furthermore, she claimed, “I executed the race the way Bobby (Kersee, her coach) wanted me to. I knew coming home that if I just kept my cadence and stayed on stride pattern, we could do it and it happened.” Femke Bol, on the other hand, revealed, “I ran against the best in the world, Sydney is just very strong. She was so far in front at the end, so I was always doubting if I really had a good race because it felt very good. Then I saw the time and I was like: ‘Wow’. It is amazing to be a part of it and to come out second in such a race.” The rivalry is still ongoing, with Sydney leading 3-0.