Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength while loving someone deeply gives you courage—a saying that’s quite common in every love story. In the case of Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, it was all the more true with regard to her husband Andre Levrone. Before Sydney took on Andre’s last name, their journey to being significant others is a swoon-worthy tale. It all started when the pair were introduced by McLaughlin’s high school friend who was mutual friends with Andre.

In a move that most men would consider bold, the former NFL player approached the Olympic gold medalist via her DMs. What followed was a series of meetings that was indicative of love blossoming between the two. Though Andre would eventually ask for her hand in a then-future surprise visit to Sydney, the journey for her – as exhilarating as it is for someone in love – wasn’t easy she battled anxiety stemming from one of Andre’s vulnerable moments, as she revealed in her memoir; Far Beyond Gold: Running from Fear to Faith.

Past anxiety that Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone overcame with love

The pair dated for about a year before Andre popped the question to McLaughlin. Two years after first dating, they tied the knot at Early Mountain Vineyards in Madison, Virginia on May 5, 2022. On one of their dates, as McLaughlin recalled, Andre made a serious confession in a moment of vulnerability about his past relationship troubles, and how he didn’t want to make the same mistakes with her. However, the moment wasn’t easy on the Olympic gold medalist, who had to hide her discomfort at his confession, stating, “I appreciated his honesty, but it made me uncomfortable. I had no idea how I was supposed to respond to it. We had only been getting to know each other for a little over a month. That night, as I reflected on my evening with Andre, I found myself struggling with fear. I was afraid of how vulnerable he was and what that would mean for me.”

“The old fears returned. I was terrified of getting hurt again. The last breakup had nearly destroyed me. Now, here I was almost twelve months later, risking it all again, this time with a guy who seemed amazing”, continued McLaughlin. Moments like these require a leap of faith, and that’s exactly what Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone did with her then-future husband.

Despite accepting Andre’s proposal, she was still riddled with fear and anxiety. “I felt all the emotions. Joy. Excitement. A little bit of shock. It was surreal, having the man of my dreams put such a beautiful ring on my finger. In the midst of the happiness, I could feel the anxiety working to be the moment’s defining feature. I couldn’t help but think of the perceptions of others on my getting engaged to Andre after only nine months.”, she wrote in her memoir.

While Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone’s anxiety stemmed from her own past relationship troubles, and the possible carrying the burden of Andre’s, she knew that she couldn’t let that anxiety dictate the future of her happiness. Being aware that ‘worry only inflicts crises’ in the future, she would have been stuck dwelling on what she couldn’t control. By then, Sydney McLaughlin understood that life has a perfect plan for her in God’s grace. Leaving her self-doubt, Sydney was a new person, embarking on one of the most storied tales of love in sports history.

Andre Levrone, a soulmate for the ages

For Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, the former NFL player was too good to be true. Her past relationship troubles left her deeply skeptical about a man who seemed to check all the boxes in a perfect life partner. “I kept thinking, Where’s the flaw? What am I missing? Why is “Mr. Perfect” still single? Something must be wrong with him.”, McLaughlin wrote. Every ‘perfect’ relationship has its trials and tribulations, and these instances were exactly that for the Olympic track and field athlete. In hindsight, it seems like McLaughlin made the right call in her decision to spend the rest of her life with Andre.

A devoted spiritual individual to the Christian faith, Andre Levrone was remarkably athletic and played as an NFL player in the Baltimore Ravens, Carolina Panthers, and Jacksonville Jaguars. Saying goodbye to football in 2020, Andre Levrone joined a Bible-reading group where he often took his belle, Sydney McLaughlin. In those group meets, Sydney and Andre would find their inner bonding, not just to themselves but also to the almighty. After his retirement, Andre Levrone Jr. found a successful career in real estate. Furthermore, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone loved the idea of him being a pastor and she expressed it in her book.