"It's a surreal moment": Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone sits down to discuss world record and gold medal from Paris 2024
The now four-time Olympic gold medallist opens up on what she hones in on during a race, how her faith is her driving force, and much more.
Athletics
The day after her world record-setting 400m hurdles run at the Olympic Games Paris 2024, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone could barely find the words to express what winning a second consecutive Olympic gold in the event meant to her.
"It hasn't really fully hit me yet," she told Olympics.com in a sit-down interview. "Blessed, honestly. And excited. It's a surreal moment. But now an amazing, amazing opportunity. And I'm grateful."
What is amazing is how McLaughlin-Levrone, still just 25, continues to orbit above her peers - and history. Not only was her 50.37 time in the final a new world record (the sixth time she's broken it), but her back-to-back gold after Tokyo 2020 in 2021 also makes her the first woman to successfully defend her Olympic title in the race.
"You never really know what's going on," she said about her mid-race awareness of her record-setting pace. "It's really just running all the way through the line. I did get a quick glance at the clock, so I was like, 'Just get over this last hurdle and sprint through the line.'
"It's just like we've practised a million times."
But McLaughlin-Levrone's one-millionth-time approach was also, she said, intermixed with a never-done-this-before mindset, too.
"I treat every meet like its own," McLaughlin explained. "So, this was my first time in Paris racing for this Olympic gold. I was just treating it like this was my first time here, and, trying to go for it the same way."
The same way - but also like never before.
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone: "That's why I love the 400m hurdles"
The New Jersey native mirrored her double-golden Tokyo in Paris, going on to be a part of the winning 4x400m relay squad for Team USA to bring her gold-medal haul to four across her first two Olympics.
But what has kept McLaughlin-Levrone - who hasn't lost a 400m hurdles race since the World Championships in 2019 - driven as she's set herself apart from the field?
"I think the fact that there's always more that can be done," she replied. "You know, there's always ways to improve. And I love trying to figure out what those are and push myself to try to break those barriers and boundaries."
While McLaughlin-Levrone toyed with the 400m flat between Tokyo and Paris, a collection of injuries sidetracked her progression. After she missed the Worlds in 2023, it was clear that her focus would remain on the event that she has owned over the last several years.
That "always improving" mantra aligns well with McLaughlin-Levrone and the hurdles: The event is heavily technical, with 10 barriers spread around one circle of the track. With the help of legendary coach Bobby Kersee, McLaughlin-Levrone has honed in on perfecting her stride pattern, as she counts her steps to stay locked in on her own lane.
"The open 400 is just a full-on sprint," she explained. "But at least with the hurdles, I can think about something and have to work [on it]. There's certain things that kind of just distract you from the fact that you're running a 400. And I think that's why I love the hurdles."
She was also buoyed by an electric crowd inside the Stade de France, with some 70,000 fans screaming toward her - a far cry from the empty venue she triumphed in at Tokyo. And of course, her close friends and family - including her sister-in-law, who put that now-famous crown onto Sydney's head after her win.
"Oh my goodness, the crowd is amazing; it's so loud in there," McLaughlin-Levrone said. "The whole experience... just having friends and family here, getting to see their faces. ... I mean, this really feels like the first full Olympic moment for me."
Croissants, her faith, and (maybe!) LA 2028
What was waiting for McLaughlin-Levrone at the end of her Olympic experience? "Croissants," she said with a smile.
But for the American, everything tracks back to not putting all her focus on herself, but on her Christian faith, which she has grown more vocal about, and even wrote a book chronicling her journey, called Far Beyond Gold: Running from Fear to Faith.
"I'm just grateful for my faith, and to God for guiding me through all of that and finding my identity in him and not in myself or in my performance," she explained. "I think that's given me so much freedom to just run the race. He's called me to it. And I think that this is testimony of just how much growth has taken place in me, not by my own strength, but by Him."
She continued: "For me, it's not an everyday lifestyle... I would say it's just my life. You know? My faith is everything. It's who I am."
While McLaughlin-Levrone has rooted herself there, she's not completely sure where it'll steer her next. Or if fans will see her competing at the next Olympic Games, LA 2028.
"I mean, I don't know what the future holds," she said, smiling. "I don't know what's in the cards for me, but bringing the Games back to the United States is going to be special in and of itself. And so, whether it's the 400 hurdles or any other event, it just would be an honour to compete for USA."