How old was Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone when she first went to the Olympics? All about her debut at the quadrennial Games

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone made her Olympic debut at the Rio Olympics in 2016 in the women's 400m hurdles. The American athlete was 16 years old when she made her first appearance at the quadrennial Games and was the youngest athlete since Denean Howard to be a part of the United States Olympics Team.

In 2016, McLaughlin-Levrone was dominating the high school circuit while also setting the fastest World Youth time in the 400m hurdles. She then marched on to the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials where she clocked 54.15s to set a new world junior record. She placed third in the trials and qualified for her maiden Olympic Games slated to be held in Rio.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone competed in the Rio Olympics and did well in the early rounds. However, her campaign at the Brazilian capital came to an end after she finished fifth in the semi-final of the women's 400m hurdles and failed to qualify for the finals. The American athlete took it as a great learning experience even though she was disappointed with her performance.

The American athlete spoke about her performance in a post-race interview and said:

"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," she added.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone makes an honest confession about her Rio Olympics appearance

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics (Image Source: Getty)

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone spoke in detail about her performance at the Rio Olympics in her book 'Beyond Gold: Fleeing Fear to Faith'. The Olympic Gold medalist revealed how she was anxious before competing at the event and felt like she wasted her opportunity as she could not put her best performance forward at the event.

"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," she 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?I was really afraid of what was going to happen. It seemed like the end of the world if I didn't get to the top of the podium," she added.

Furthermore, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone expressed that she felt that she was not mentally and physically ready to compete on such a global stage as a 16-year-old.