Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone opened up about missing a spot in the finals of the women’s 400m finals in her debut Olympic appearance in Rio. The American hurdler finished fifth in the semifinals, thereby failing to qualify for the finals at the quadrennial games as a 16-year-old.
McLaughlin-Levrone spoke in detail about her debut Olympic appearance in her book ‘Beyond Gold: Fleeing Fear to Faith’. She revealed how she struggled with anxiety while competing on the global stage despite putting forward great performances early in 2016 which included setting a world junior record as well as clocking the fastest world youth time.
Reflecting on her performance, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone recalled as if she felt that she deliberately missed out on the opportunity and the inner fierce competitor in her was furious after the result. Moreover, amid the tense situation, the athlete, then 16, just wanted the race to get over as she was charging towards the final stretch of the race.
“I’ll never forget it. I must have been going past the eighth fence and I was thinking, ‘I’m going to make sure I don’t make this final’. I don’t care if my season ends early, I just want it to be over,” McLaughlin-Levrone said.
“I remember crossing the line as if to say, ‘See, your season is over’. But the competitor in me was so angry at myself – why would you do that?” she added.
Moreover, she spoke about feeling unfulfilled while leaving Rio after the Olympics and said:
“Honestly, I robbed myself of an opportunity. I don’t know what would have happened, but I really didn’t want to find out. I left Rio with the feeling that I had left something behind. It was very hard.”
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone spoke about her performance at the Rio Olympics in a post-race interview. Despite failing to qualify for the finals in the women’s 400m hurdles, the American athlete displayed optimism keeping in mind the longevity of her career as well as learning from her experience of performing at such a global stage.
“It’s going to help me. I didn’t run the race I wanted to but now I know what it’s like to be here and go through this kind of thing and have the pressures of sleeping in a dorm room and seeing your competition in the food halls. It’s just practice and getting ready for the future,” she said.
Furthermore, she expressed her gratitude for being able to get the opportunity to compete at the biggest stage of track and field as a teenager.
McLaughlin-Levrone had memorable outings at her next two Olympic appearances in Tokyo and Paris, winning two golds in each of the editions.
