Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone Q&A: On tan lines and how dance has helped me on the track
You can hear our full Olympics.com conversation with McLaughlin-Levrone on the latest episode of the Olympics.com podcast.
Here’s part of the transcript from that discussion – which much of has been used for this article.
Olympics.com: It feels so human to – for us every day – we all take on things that we don’t feel like we’re good at, whether it’s our everyday jobs. [But] you’re doing it in a big way. Does that speak to your personality, or why did it feel like the right thing to do this season?
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone: I think there was a bit of apprehension at first of, ‘Do we really want to take that step?’ But I want compete and I want to compete well and against the best and push myself to be best that I can. So it definitely is uncomfortable, but it’s rewarding to carve new paths.
Olympics.com: You’re holding an Olympic microphone. We are three years away from LA. I’m sure you’ve answered this plenty. How do you relate to LA 2028, sort of in the big picture, but also in the day-to-day and the work that you’re doing?
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone: I think LA is always in the back of my mind. I think it’s hard to escape it, especially when I live there. But you know, it’s something that I need to keep in the back of my mind. You know, that’s something I’m working towards. It’s a very exciting goal to have it back in the States, back in home soil.
Olympics.com Do we take hints or clues from your progression post-Paris as to what races we’ll see you in LA or maybe you don’t even know?
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone: I don’t even know the answer to that question yet. We’ll see what happens this year, next year, the years after. But yeah, anything can happen leading up to LA.
Olympics.com: What’s one thing that you… have to cut out [in life]? Or that you, you know, are like, ‘I can’t do X like anyone else, [like] a bunch of my friends?’
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone: It’s a wonderful question. You know, it’s summertime, and I can’t just sit out and tan in the sun as much as my friends. They’ll be like, let’s go lay out by the pool. I’m like, ‘I will get so dehydrated, that is not what I need before practice tomorrow.’ So it’s really unfortunate, because I want to even out my tan, but I just have to play it according to schedule when practices are planned.
Olympics.com: Okay, accepting tan lines.
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone: You know, it’s a part of the job.
Olympics.com: You danced as a kid. What kind of dance did you do?
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone: I did tap, ballet, a little bit of pointe, jazz, hip hop.
Olympics.com: How does dance play a role, do you feel like, in who you are as an athlete now?
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone: I think dance played a huge role just in terms of flexibility, being able to have body control in certain positions, especially as a hurdler. There’s just so much strength from being up on your toes, hip mobility, all the things that I think that dance really helped me with. And I would say I’m pretty hyper-mobile, and part of that, I think, is from dancing for so long. So it definitely helps on the track. I think it correlates pretty well.