Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, a name that now echoes greatness, began her Olympic journey at an age when most of us were figuring out high school life. At just 16, she stepped onto the global stage in the 400-meter hurdles. She was technically still a kid, yet she was racing against the best in the world. The road to Rio was nothing short of jaw-dropping. During the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials, Sydney clocked a mind-blowing 54.15 seconds, breaking the world youth best and junior record while securing her ticket to the Olympics. Let’s not forget that she was still balancing homework with hurdles, and her epic sprint made her the youngest U.S. Olympic track and field athlete since 1980. But Rio wasn’t all gold and glory.

When it came time to race, Sydney placed fifth in her semi-final heat, missing the finals. It was a lot to handle for someone who’d just been thrown into the limelight. And now she has opened up about how overwhelming the pressure felt, recalling how she would literally run away from the media leading up to the Olympics. Can you blame her? At 16, most of us were running away from awkward school pictures, not the weight of international expectations!

In Far Beyond Gold, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone shared the behind-the-scenes parts of her story. “I had dozens of stories like that,” she said, describing episodes of acute concern—she was afraid to disobey her parents, anger God, or look foolish. Reflecting on the aftermath of the Olympic trials, she admitted, “Those memories and the apprehension they represented were with me. And they were a huge but unseen part of my story that summer.”

As the world watched her non-emotional, unbreakable forte, Sydney felt the pressure to fit into the narrative the media wanted to tell. “Suddenly, my childhood was of interest to a lot of people,” she wrote. “There was an assumption that I was built differently. The media loves to feed narratives like this. It’s good for business.” Journalists were interested in the ways she worked on her competitive advantage and desire to succeed. “They are looking for the ingredients of an athlete’s success—the experience, lessons, obstacles, and influences that molded them into an Olympic athlete,” she explained. “They want to craft a narrative, tell a story about an underdog overcoming adversity or a talented prodigy not buckling under the weight of expectations.”

But Sydney realized that her tale did not belong to the triumphant genre of women who fought against the impossible—it was a blessing. “I didn’t earn it; I just had it. It was as much a part of me as my height and brown eyes,” she shared. This was evident even at six years old; Sydney was able to race for the first time in her life. Scared of losing, she pleaded with her dad not to make her run. But his simple reassurance, “Sydney, you can do this. You were made to do this,” was enough to make me feel better—and win. And Sydney’s dad has been there for her every step of the way.

She was as daring as any child of three when she swung across monkey bars; she was as steady as any child who is one year old when she put her feet on her dad’s hand and walked around the house. “I didn’t train for the monkey bars or mentally prepare for the ride around the house on my dad’s palms,” she wrote. “I had a God-given ability to balance, and that ability showed up when it was time to run.” While the media sought to spin a tale of grit and struggle, Sydney’s truth was clear: It wasn’t about constructing a specific life plan—it was about accepting who she was supposed to be.

Look how far Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone has come full circle now! This year at the Olympics, she broke her own 400m hurdles world record once more at the trials, running a stunning 50.65 seconds and securing her place in the 2024 Summer Olympics. Later on at the Olympics, she raised the bar again and recorded a time of 50.37 seconds to become the two-time Olympic champion. She did not stop there—Sydney also won another gold medal for the women’s 4×400m relay team. But when it comes to the media, Sydney is still on the same page, and she even spoke about it in December 2025!

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone gets real about the media

Paris Olympic 400m hurdles champ Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone has been pretty open about her struggles with the media, asking for a more professional and honest approach to storytelling. Despite breaking her own world record and keeping her Olympic title, she admits to ‘World Athletics,’ “I don’t think this will be a shock to the media but I think that for me would be the media and their opinions and stories of you they write.”

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone understands that the media’s role is to spice things up, though not all the published material is factual. “I know it’s their job to get an interesting story, but their story may not always reflect the truth,” Sydney said. In her own words, she advises young athletes to be cautious of the brutal energy that comes with media and to focus on building their careers away from the spotlight. “To any young athlete who is still very impressionable and trying to discover who they are, having the whole world have an opinion about them can be a little overwhelming,” Sydney said.

Sydney, the first track athlete who has set the world records four times in a single event, understands what it means to be careful with the criticism. “It’s very easy to let that get into your mind, into your performance, and I think that’s something I tell young athletes all the time that is just something you have to be aware of what you let into your mind and into your circle. Because it can affect you,” Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone said. So, are you on board with Sydney’s take on handling the media, or do you have your own playbook? We’d love to hear your thoughts!