Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone knows what it takes to reach the top of her sport. The American track and field star has won 4 Olympic gold medals and broken world records 6 times. But behind those achievements lies a commitment to discipline. In fact, in 2024 she revealed her routine included track training four or five days a week, strength training twice a week, scheduled rest days, and around nine hours of sleep each night. Now, two years later, as a new mother to daughter Savannah, McLaughlin-Levrone hopes to pass on the same discipline to her daughter with one more important lesson about what it really means to work hard.
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“Becoming a mom has already reshaped how I think about everything I learned on the track,” McLaughlin-Levrone said in a recent interview with Women’s Wear Daily (WWD). “The biggest lesson I want to give Savannah is that discipline isn’t a punishment; it’s just what you do for the things and people you love.” That lesson does not have to be limited to sports only.
The Olympic champion also wants her daughter to understand that setbacks are part of growth, not a reason to give up.
Looking back on her own experiences in athletics, she said, “Some of my most important growth came from races and seasons that didn’t go the way I planned.” That message comes from a career in which success has required patience and the ability to learn from difficult moments.
After becoming the world’s leading 400m hurdler, she faced a difficult pause in 2023 when a knee issue forced her to withdraw from the World Athletics Championships in Budapest. She decided to focus her time on her recovery instead of risking her fitness before the Paris Olympics leaving her unable to defend her world title that year. But the setback did not stop her from returning to the top. In June 2024, she broke her own world record with a time of 50.65 seconds at the U.S. Olympic Trials. She went even faster at the Paris Olympics, clocking 50.37 seconds to win gold and defend her Olympic title.
Having experienced both the pressure of competing at the highest level and the challenge of coming back from injury, McLaughlin-Levrone understands that success hardly follows a straight path. She hopes Savannah will carry that lesson with her, particularly as she grows up in a family with deep sporting roots. Her mother is a four-time Olympic champion, while her father, Andre Levrone Jr., previously played professional American football in the NFL. Her maternal grandfather, Willie McLaughlin, was also a competitive 400m runner who earned NCAA All-American honors and reached the semifinals of the 400m at the 1984 U.S. Olympic Trials.
With such a strong sporting legacy surrounding her, Savannah may naturally be introduced to athletics from an early age. However, McLaughlin-Levrone does not want her daughter to feel that she must match her family’s achievements. As she explained, growing up in a family of athletes can teach a child “that you can inherit a love for something without it having to look identical to what came before you.”
Ultimately, she wants Savannah to have the freedom to decide what success means to her. “She gets to define her own path; I just hope I can hand her the tools,” McLaughlin-Levrone said. By sharing the lessons she has learned through both victories and setbacks, the Olympic champion hopes to give her daughter the confidence to pursue her own ambitions.
Even before her daughter, Savannah, is old enough to understand the demands of elite sport, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone is already thinking about the lessons she hopes to teach her ahead of the LA 28 Olympics.
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone’s biggest motivation for LA 2028
McLaughlin-Levrone last competed at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, where she won the women’s 400m flat in 47.78 seconds, the second-fastest time in history. She welcomed her daughter, Savannah, in July 2026, taking on a new role away from the track. But motherhood has not meant giving up on her Olympic ambitions. Instead, the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics could give her an opportunity to pursue her goals while allowing her daughter to witness the journey firsthand.
Speaking to USA TODAY Sports in April 2026, before Savannah’s birth, McLaughlin-Levrone stressed that she would take her return slowly. “It’s going to be a slow progression back. I’m not rushing any,” she said, recognising that her recovery after pregnancy would take time. Still, she has a personal reason to keep working towards LA 2028.
“So, being able to do this, and have my daughter hopefully see me continue to strive for excellence on the track, really excited to just inspire her and hopefully have a different type of motivation that gets me excited to continue to chase my goals,” McLaughlin-Levrone said.
By watching her mother work towards a goal, face uncertainty, and persevere through challenges, Savannah could learn the very lessons McLaughlin-Levrone wants to pass on: that discipline comes from love.