"Became a source of turmoil"-When Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone opened up about deleting social media before her Olympic debut as a 16 year old

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone is one of the most prolific track and field athletes in recent times. The current world record holder in women's 400m hurdles has a massive fan following on social media, with more than 1.5 million followers on Instagram and another 170,000-plus followers on X [formerly Twitter].

However, there was a time when the Olympic champion chose to quit social media, just before the Rio Olympics. McLaughlin-Levrone talked about the incident at length in her autobiography, 'Far Beyond Gold: Running From Fear to Faith,' which was published in January 2024.

McLaughlin-Levrone wrote about the incident,

"I'd deleted my accounts a few weeks before the Olympic trials. Throughout high school, I'd been active on social media, checking my Instagram account multiple times a day. I liked posting what I was doing and seeing what my friends were up to."

The 25-year-old sprinter explained why she made that decision. In her words,

"But by the Olympic trials, I had deleted Instagram and Twitter after an incident earlier that year. What used to be a place where I connected with friends had become a source of turmoil."

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone made her Olympic debut at the Rio Olympics in 2016. She was one of the youngest American athletes at that time who made her Olympic debut in the 400m hurdles event, where she went on to the semifinals.

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Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone on not qualifying for the finals at the Rio Olympics

Sydney-McLaughlin Levrone on not making to the finals of 400m hurdles at Rio Olympics [Image for Representational Purposes] [Image Source : Getty]

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone has an impressive record at the Olympics. She has won four consecutive Olympic gold medals in a row. However, she did lose one race, and that was her Olympic debut at the Rio Olympics in 2016.

In the book 'Far Beyond Gold: Running From Fear to Faith,' McLaughlin-Levrone opened up on why she couldn't make it to the finals of the women's 400m hurdles at the Rio Olympics in 2016. The American hurdler wrote,

"Halfway through the race, I was running well, within striking distance of the final. But at some point over the next 100 meters, my instinct abandoned me, and I was left with just my thoughts. It was the first time it ever disappeared on the track."

"Around the final turn, my patented final push to the finish line didn’t show up. I didn’t even try to find it. Instead, I slowed down just enough to make sure I wouldn’t make it to the finals."

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone finished fifth with a timing of 56.32 seconds and didn't qualify for the finals. Since then, McLaughlin-Levrone never looked back, breaking the world record in the 400m hurdles event six times in three years, including her gold medal performance at the Paris Olympics in 2024.