Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone is a name that everyone in the track and field fraternity is familiar with. She has won two gold medals in the Paris Olympics and is now one of the best hurdlers in the world. However, the best also faced some obstacles, and Sydney had to fight the defeats by her fellow US competitor, Dalilah Muhammad. Their rivalry got to another level, especially after a crushing loss at the 2019 Toyota USATF Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

On that day, Sydney gave a good show by completing the race in 52.88 seconds. But Dalilah ran even faster, and she finished the race in 52.20 seconds and won the medal and the record of the world. The defeat affected Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone badly, and as a result, she was desperately seeking comfort and support; in her search for happiness after the defeat, she turned to two things, which she reveals now.

In her book Far Beyond Gold, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone reflects deeply on the moments she relied on the wrong things for her happiness. “In the fall of 2019, I pinned my happiness on two things: my performance on the track and the return of a boyfriend,” she writes. After falling short in Doha in the 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships, she desperately turned to a relationship, thinking it could somehow erase the pain of her loss.

The relationship Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone revisits is with an old high school boyfriend. “We started dating a few months before the 2016 Olympics, then broke up five months later. Even though I ended the relationship, I kept coming back to it because it was familiar and comfortable,” Sydney shares. “When my confidence was at an all-time low after my first professional season, I thought this man might provide the peace I was looking for.”

Sydney’s struggle for validation is poignant as she reflects on how her self-worth was tied to external sources and how she desperately wanted to be in a relationship since her teenage years. “I thought about it all the time. Throughout middle school and high school, I would imagine what it would be like to build a life with boys I knew. If a guy was cute and personable, I would play through different scenarios in my head, wondering if at last I had found “the one.””

Sydney added, “I’d do love calculators online based on our first names, then follow up with a verbal test of how Sydney sounded before their last name. Disney really screwed me up in that way,” she admits. “They made it all look so simple: you meet a boy, you fall in love, you get married, and you’re basically a princess. Why wasn’t that how it worked?” Seeking reassurance, she flew to watch one of his college football games, hoping to reignite their relationship and find her confidence again. After the game, they sat down for a real conversation. “I needed validation, to know I was still wanted, needed, accepted,” Sydney recalls. “So I asked him a question I had wondered since we broke up in 2016.”

2016 saw Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone give a performance that shocked everyone at the Olympic Trials as she won third place in the 400-meter hurdles in 54.15 seconds, which was also a world youth best and junior record. It was a great accomplishment to become the youngest athlete on the American Olympic track and field team since Carol Lewis and Denean Howard in 1980.

However, when Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone got to the track in Rio, she did not have the desired result. She was able to finish fifth in her semi-final heat but narrowly missed advancing to the finals. But look at her now! It’s safe to say all’s well that ends well. Well yes, during that rough time, she was seeking solace from her ex, but soon after that, her story turned for the better. Fast forward, and she’s now happily married, finding the ultimate comfort and support in her relationship.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone’s happily ever after!

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone might have had her fair share of heartbreaks when it comes to her love life, but now? Jackpot! Sydney Levrone isn’t just setting records in races and grand stages like the Olympics; she’s winning at life too with the “perfect man.” That’s where Andre Levrone Jr., a former college and NFL wide receiver, comes in—and he’s been her rock.

It was a DM on Instagram, friends of friends, that led to a conversation that was so much more than just that. Sydney Levrone once said that she did not know what love meant until she met him: “I truly did not know the definition of love until I met you; a sacrificial choice to lay down your life for the well-being of another.” Andre then extended a hand to her, inviting her to Bible study and to meet a set of inspiring, mature individuals. This was the first time she was in a relationship where faith was so prominent in the process of personal development that she had not known existed.

Their relationship was not accidental or casual, and it turned into something beautiful rather quickly. In particular, Sydney recalls when she knew that Andre was different: “If I could say one thing about our relationship, it’s that it was always very intentional. Honestly, I knew by the fourth day we ever talked. So that’s something.” Fast forward to August 2021, when Andre even pops the big question, making them even closer than before. Nine months later, in May 2022, they said their ‘I do’ to each other and officially started their happily ever after. Since then, every day has been a testimony of how deeply they know each other, and it is true that love does come around.