2016 Olympic Trials–at 16, Sydney McLaughlin‑Levrone stood in her lane at Hayward Field, still in high school, staring down the starting blocks beside seasoned Olympians. The stadium buzzed, but she was silent, focused, fearless. When the gun cracked, she exploded out, smooth over each hurdle. For 300 meters, she chased giants. Then, in the final straight, she unleashed. One by one, she passed veterans, clawing her way into third. The clock stopped at 54.15. In that instant, a teenager didn’t just qualify for Rio—she shattered the world U20 record and became the youngest U.S. track Olympian in 44 years. A high school girl had stepped into a professional world and claimed her place. That race didn’t crown her; it cracked open the future. On that July day in Eugene, the world met Sydney McLaughlin Levrone, a woman who would go on to rule the 400m hurdles. But do you know she almost didn’t race?

In her book, Far Beyond Gold: Running from Fear to Faith, the Olympian speaks of how she almost did not race the 2016 Olympic Trials. “The first and, I figured, only heat I’d run, I completely lost my nerve. These are actual professionals out here, I thought. There’s no way I can hang with them. Every other woman in the trials had been training for this moment for years, and it showed. They had world-class coaching, big-time sponsors, strict diets, and meticulous workout regimens,” she writes. The two biggest names she faced were Dalilah Muhammad, the world-leading Olympic Trials champion, and Ashley Spencer, the reigning NCAA champ turned elite hurdler.

All Sydney believed she had against them by her teenage angst and her minion blanket. “I was only sixteen years old, a nervous, timid high school junior from Dunellen, New Jersey—a quiet suburb thirty miles southwest of Manhattan. It was a great place to grow up, but not exactly home to a lot of Olympic athletes. I didn’t know of anyone from my hometown or school who had been where my shoes then stood,” She wrote in her book.  Sydney grew up in Dunellen, New Jersey, and attended Union Catholic Regional High School in nearby Scotch Plains. The only track athlete from Dunellen to achieve major, global success is Sydney McLaughlin‑Levrone herself.

She tells in her book that staying an hour outside Eugene with her family, she saw the packed stadium—over 10,000 fans—for the first time just 80 minutes before her race. The pressure hit hard. She’d woken up drenched in sweat, too anxious to eat, and spent the drive battling a pit in her stomach. But that wasn’t the reason she was nervous. “The reason I almost bailed that day was the other competitors. All around me I saw women who were bigger, stronger, more experienced, and, I assumed, faster than I was. They clearly had a strategy as they warmed up. I did not. I would run a bit from one side of the warm-up area to the other and stretch without rhyme or reason,” she wrote.

Sydney McLaughlin‑Levrone stood beside women like Dalilah Muhammad, the undisputed U.S. leader in the 400m hurdles that year. Muhammad wasn’t just fast—she was dominant. She came into the Trials unbeaten that season, clocking sub-54-second times with ease. Overwhelmed by the moment, Sydney McLaughlin felt completely out of place. Surrounded by pros with gear and confidence, she had only a small backpack and growing doubt. As the race neared, panic took over, and she began hyperventilating, then broke down in tears.

Quietly slipping away from her coaches, she called her dad, desperate for reassurance, unsure she could go through with it. The book then recalls, “‘Can I please pull out of this race?’ she begged my father, feeling half her age. ‘I don’t want to run,’ I told him, tears streaming down my face. ‘I promise I’ll try again in four years.'” But her father wasn’t going to let her anxiety rob her of such a big moment. “‘You’re already there, Syd,’ my dad said in a calm, soothing voice. ‘Just make it through this round, and we’ll talk about it. Everyone is here to see you run. Get the experience. It’s the first round of three; there’s no pressure on you.” As she ended the call, she knew there was no getting out of this race. 

So she found the nearest bathroom and threw up. Then, she trekked back to the warm-up area and mechanically went through the rest of her stretches, desiring one thing: for this race to be over. With minutes to go before the race, Sydney repeated the words, “God’s got you,” clinging to them like a lifeline. But doubt crept in. Her faith, still rooted in childhood stories and simple songs, felt distant and fragile. At the moment, she needed guidance most; she wasn’t sure if God was even listening. Surrounded by chaos and fear, all she could do was hope that the unseen God she barely knew would show up when everything inside her wanted to run away.

Sydney McLaughlin‑Levrone’s Diamond League debut on the cards

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone has had a standout 2025 season so far. She opened her campaign on April 4 in Kingston, Jamaica, at the inaugural Grand Slam Track meet. There, at the National Stadium, she ripped through the 400m hurdles in 52.76 s, winning by nearly two seconds over Olympic gold medalist Dalilah Muhammad. Two days later in Kingston, she backed it up with a stunning 50.32 s in the flat 400m—easily outpacing the field. 

She carried that dominance to May 3–4 at the Miami meet in Miramar, Florida, maintaining a perfect sweep in both events. On May 3, she clocked 52.07 s in the hurdles for another win, then exploded to a 49.69 s flat 400m on May 4 her fastest this season securing the Grand Slam sweep and reinforcing her status as the world leader in both events In Philadelphia, she shocked the track world with her debut in the 100m hurdles and sprint. On May 31, Sydney McLaughlin‑Levrone clocked 12.70s in the 100m hurdles, placing fifth in a stacked field led by Ackera Nugent and Tia Jones. The next day, she stepped into the flat 100m—her first professional 100m in six years—and blasted an 11.21s, earning a solid second-place finish behind Nugent’s world-best 11.11s.

Now, she’s set to make her long-awaited Diamond League debut at the Prefontaine Classic on July 11 in Eugene. It will be her first-ever Diamond League appearance in the flat 400m, and a major test against the world’s best. “I’m excited to participate in this year’s Prefontaine Classic, which holds a special place in the heart of track and field,” said McLaughlin-Levrone. “I’m looking forward to competing against an incredible field of athletes and can’t wait to see everyone in Eugene.” How will she perform? Let us know your thoughts.