Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone is widely considered one of the greatest hurdlers of all time. This has been proven multiple times by her, including the way she raced at the Paris Olympics. She won her second consecutive gold medal in the 400-meter hurdle race while breaking the world record for the sixth time. By doing this, Sydney proved to the world that she is on a completely different level, which will be tough to catch up to.

The hurdler’s illustrious career is an inspiration to every young athlete trying to make it big in the sport. She is playing her part in possibly influencing the next generation of track and field. Thus, there is no doubt that young athletes look up to her. However, at a certain point in her life, Sydney struggled a bit as she tried to guide a young athlete who had come to her for advice.

In her book Far Beyond Gold, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone spoke about the time a young athlete had come to her for advice. She was competing in the Southern California track team and had met the hurdler at UCLA as they trained together. The girl had started speaking to Sydney and had even had a conversation with her husband.

“I’ll never forget Andre telling her to stay away from knuckleheads, guys who have not matured yet in their thinking. Instead, he told her to focus on the path God has her on, to seek the Lord, and keep running the race of life faithfully,” she said. Months after this incident, the athlete reached out to Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone to help her with her hurdling skills. She had been struggling quite a lot to overcome them.

While Sydney acknowledged that she may not be able to fully help her, she could get the resources required to make her improve. “‘I don’t have all the answers,’ I told her, remembering when my hurdling technique was a mess. ‘But I know someone who can help.'” The Olympic gold medalist requested her coach, Bob Kersee, to meet the athlete. Kersee agreed, as, according to Sydney, he still had the heart of youth.

Slowly, the girl improved, making Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone immensely proud. “All her life updates made me smile and reminded me of the girl I once was. Even though I am only five or six years older than her, she reminded me so much of my younger self. It was a thrill to be able to help her in some way and know that helping others doesn’t always mean having the answers. But true care is giving what you can, while you can.” Thus, the hurdler was very happy with the fact that she could help this girl. She had played a part in directly shaping someone’s future in track and field.

When Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone almost quit track and field

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone’s illustrious career wouldn’t have been possible at all had she decided to leave the sport when she was young. She was actually quite close to taking this drastic step when she was in high school. When she returned to her school after competing at the Rio Olympics, the hurdler felt that people had started viewing her in a different light.

Sydney felt that many had started feeling jealous of her achievements, which made her quite angry. “The adolescent pettiness became so frustrating that I seriously considered not running my senior year: quitting the Union Catholic track team and preparing for college on my own,” she said. But she eventually got over it and decided to stay. However, a similar incident in college became too much for her to handle.

After seeing two of her friends escalating a simple disagreement into a violent confrontation, she decided she had enough. She said, “The adolescent pettiness became so frustrating that I seriously considered not running my senior year: quitting the Union Catholic track team and preparing for college on my own,” however, eventually her father convinced her of the opposite and she stayed. Eventually, things turned out well for Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and she has never looked back again. Now that she has found such success on the track, these instances look like merely a small inconvenience in a beautiful journey.