"Not the end of my career" - How Sydney McLaughlin reacted to her early exit at the 2016 Rio Olympics

Sydney McLaughlin has been one of the most talked about athletes in the past two years. After winning two gold medals at the Tokyo Olympics, she is also the 2022 World Champion in the 400-meter hurdles.

She has won four medals at the World Championships, including three gold medals and one silver medal. But Sydney first rose to the spotlight when she qualified to represent Team USA in the 400-meter hurdles at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Sydney was also the youngest athlete at the Rio Olympics to make the US Track and Field Olympic team since 1980.

The American prodigy started in lane 2 in the first heat of the 400-meter hurdle. She completed the event with a time of 56.32 and finished in fifth place. Despite finishing fifth in the heats, the New Jersey-born athlete earned her spot in the semi-finals by being one of the fastest hurdlers.

Sydney McLaughlin during the World Athletics Championships Oregon 2022

She started in lane 2 in the first semifinal also and finished fifth again, with a time of 56.22. Despite failing to qualify for the final, Sydney McLaughlin showed huge promise at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

After her exit in the semi-finals of the 400-meter hurdles at the 2016 Rio Olympics, Sydney McLaughlin spoke to the media. According to nj.com, she said:

"It's just the end of my season, not the end of my career."

She further added:

"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.

"This wasn't my time. It just showed that this is not the time for me. Just being here is amazing for me."

McLaughlin described her experience as "overwhelming."

"It's so overwhelming. It's been so much. You eat next to people you're going to race against, world champions and Olympians. It hasn't hit me yet that I'm here. There's so much to take in at one time."

The American athlete insisted that this experience would allow her to have settled nerves the next time she competes at the Olympics.

"I think I spend so much time during the year stressing about races that when you come somewhere like this, it makes every other meet look like nothing. I shouldn't be as nervous as I am, and I think after running something like this, the nerves will definitely calm down."

Sydney McLaughlin's successes since 2016 Olympics

Since the interview, Sydney McLaughlin has won two Olympic gold medals. She has also won three gold medals and one silver medal at the World Championships and one gold medal in the 400-meter event of the 2019 Diamond League.

Sydney was recently announced as the World Athletics Female Athlete of the Year. Her career is a good example of using early failures as the springboard for future success.