Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone isn’t afraid to lose — not when she knows she’s growing. That mindset was on full display during the Philadelphia edition of Grand Slam Track, where instead of sticking to her dominant lane in the long hurdles, she surprised everyone by entering the short hurdles group. She could’ve chased an easy path to the Slam championship in her specialty. But that wasn’t the point. She wanted to get out of her comfort zone. Well, in Philadelphia, Sydney finished an uncharacteristic fifth in the 100m hurdles and came up short again in the flat event. Still, she remained grounded. “I’m trying to evolve. I’m trying to be the next version of me,” she said- a powerful statement from a reigning Olympic champion willingly walking into uncertainty. Now, just a month after those setbacks, she’s preparing for another bold turn: competing in the 400m flat at the 50th Prefontaine Classic. It’s another unfamiliar path. Another test. Then? 

Shifting events in a non-Olympic season takes more than just talent—it takes courage and the humility to accept whatever the result may be. And Sydney has proven she has both. But even she admits there have been moments of deep doubt. Sitting down with Justin Gatlin and Rodney Green recently in Philadelphia, she opened up about the emotional weight of it all—the kind of questions that linger when medals feel empty and dreams feel distant. They were the kinds of conversations that don’t usually happen on podiums—about why she keeps going, what she’s chasing, and what it really means to grow as an athlete and as a person.

In the latest episode of the Ready Set Go podcast, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone opened up about pivotal moments in her track journey that made her question whether she wanted to continue in the sport. One of the earliest came during the AAU Junior Olympics, where she experienced a tough loss as a young athlete. Reflecting on it, she shared, “I lost in high school. I lost as a seven-year-old at the AAU Olympics and thought I wanted to quit track and field. You know that’s how serious I took losing, you know, at the time.” A similar wave of doubt hit her again just two years ago — this time, in Paris.

On June 9, 2023, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone faced a tough setback at the Meeting de Paris, finishing second in the women’s 400m behind Marileidy Paulino. The gap—nearly half a second—was enough to rattle her. But it wasn’t the first time she’d felt that sting. A similar moment came back in 2019 at the IAAF World Championships in Doha, when Dalilah Muhammad not only claimed gold in the 400m hurdles but broke the world record with a time of 52.20 seconds. Sydney finished 0.68 seconds behind, and the emotional weight of that race stayed with her. She recalled, “There’s definitely been times where I’ve cried in the tunnel after a race. I mean, Doha 2019 coming so close to not just the medal, but the world record and to see, you know, Dalilah in her prime just doing amazing things right before my eyes, I was like, ‘Oh, that’s my dream,’ and to watch somebody two feet away do it just was like, ‘I’m so close yet I’m so far.’” 

Reflecting on these defining moments in her career, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone shared a powerful truth: “People don’t realize athletes are people, you know, they just see you as a performance, as a number, as a time, as a medal, as a failure in their eyes for a certain team. If they lose, they don’t see you as a person who also has highs and lows and trials and battles and fears and doubts.” Coming from someone who made the U.S. Olympic team at just 16, her words carried the weight of experience. Despite the emotional toll and pressure, Sydney, after all, chose to stay the course. She pushed forward—and in doing so, found some of her most meaningful triumphs within the very sport that once made her question everything.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone reveals the moment when she fulfilled her childhood dream 

At the 2024 World Athletics Awards in Monaco, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone was named Women’s Track Athlete of the Year — a fitting honor after a season in which she shattered her own 400m hurdles world record not once, but twice, and successfully defended her Olympic crown.

Naturally, with six world records to her name in the event, Sydney was asked the impossible: which one meant the most? Her answer came without hesitation. “I think you can’t ever beat the first time,” she said, reflecting on her groundbreaking 51.90-second performance at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene back in 2021—the moment she surpassed Dalilah Muhammad’s 2019 world record of 52.16. “It was the first moment of realising that my childhood dreams came true” she continued. “Going under 52, all that hard work, seeing it come to fruition – I don’t think I’ll ever get past it. Realising that barrier was possible to break. Learning about myself as an athlete. That race, for me, was the stepping stone. We then were able to see that we could push this further and further.” In a career already packed with gold medals and historic times, that one race still stands as the moment where possibility turned into reality.