Sydney Michelle McLaughlin-Levrone, born on August 7, 1999, in New Brunswick, New Jersey, is an American track and field athlete specializing in the 400-meter hurdles.
She holds the world record in that event and is a four-time Olympic gold medalist. Her parents, Willie and Mary McLaughlin, both competed in track and field and shaped her path to athletic greatness.
Who is Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone?
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone is an American hurdler and sprinter. Her full name is Sydney Michelle McLaughlin-Levrone, with Levrone added after her 2022 marriage to Andre Levrone Jr. She competes primarily in the 400-meter hurdles, though she has also set American records in the flat 400 meters.
McLaughlin-Levrone became the first woman in history to break both the 52-second and 51-second barriers in the 400-meter hurdles. She set the current world record of 50.37 seconds at the 2024 Paris Olympics, her sixth time breaking the record.
In 2025, she shifted focus to the flat 400 meters and won the gold at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.
Her time of 47.78 seconds set a new American record and stands as the second-fastest women’s 400m performance in history. This makes her one of the most dominant track and field athletes of her generation.
She is also a Christian and has spoken publicly about how her faith drives her on the track. Along with competing, she released a memoir in January 2024 titled Far Beyond Gold: Running from Fear to Faith, covering her career journey from the 2016 Olympic Trials through the 2023 season.
Early Life of Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone grew up in Dunellen, New Jersey, though she was born in nearby New Brunswick.
Her family relocated to Dunellen during her childhood, and she has deep roots in the state. Her hometown later named the track at Columbia Park after her in August 2021.
She is the third of four children born to Willie and Mary McLaughlin. The entire McLaughlin household revolved around athletics. Her siblings Taylor, Morgan, and Ryan all competed in track and field at various levels.
McLaughlin-Levrone first competed in youth track meets at age six, winning her first event in New Jersey. From the beginning, her family treated athletics as a shared passion.
Her older brother Taylor won silver in the 400-meter hurdles at the 2016 IAAF World U20 Championships. Her older sister Morgan ran track for St. Peter’s University. Sydney’s younger brother Ryan competed for Union Catholic High School and won the New Jersey county track title.
The family competed at AAU meets together, running unattached without official uniforms, as McLaughlin-Levrone recalled in a 2024 interview.
She attended Union Catholic Regional High School in Scotch Plains, New Jersey, graduating with the class of 2017.
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone Age
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone is 26 years old as of 2026, born on August 7, 1999. She is a Leo by zodiac sign.
At the 2024 Paris Olympics, she ran her world record performance of 50.37 seconds the day after her 25th birthday.
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone Ethnicity and Nationality
McLaughlin-Levrone is American by nationality. Her father, Willie McLaughlin, is African-American, while her mother, Mary, is of Caucasian descent.
This biracial heritage has been publicly discussed by McLaughlin-Levrone herself, who has noted that her 800-meter mother and 400-meter father produced the ideal genetic combination for the 400-meter hurdles.
Her family’s roots run through New Jersey, New York, and Wisconsin.
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone Height and Weight
McLaughlin-Levrone stands at 5 feet 9 inches tall, or 175 centimeters. Her competition weight is listed at 134 pounds, or approximately 61 kilograms.
Her lean and athletic build suits the explosive demands of the 400-meter hurdles, where stride length and power over barriers both play a role in performance.
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone Education
McLaughlin-Levrone attended Union Catholic Regional High School in Scotch Plains, New Jersey. During her high school years, she set national records and became a two-time Gatorade National Female Athlete of the Year, winning the award in both 2015-16 and 2016-17.
After high school, she enrolled at the University of Kentucky, joining the track and field program. At Kentucky, she won three SEC titles and one national title in the 400-meter hurdles and earned five NCAA All-American designations.
She left the university after one year to turn professional in June 2018. That October, she signed a multi-year sponsorship deal with New Balance.
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone Career
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone’s career began in her early teens and escalated faster than almost any other track athlete in American history.
From setting national high school records to breaking world records at the Olympics, her rise spans more than a decade of continuous improvement.
Junior and High School Career
McLaughlin-Levrone showed elite potential as a high school freshman. In April 2017 during her senior year, she broke the national high school 300-meter hurdles record at the Arcadia Invitational with a time of 38.90 seconds.
At the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials, she finished third in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 54.15 seconds, setting a new world junior and youth record.
At just 16 years old, she became the youngest American track and field athlete to qualify for the Olympics since the 1980 Moscow Games boycott.
She also won the 2015 World Youth Championship at age 15 in the 400-meter hurdles in Cali, Colombia. That made her a global champion before she even graduated high school.
College and Professional Debut
McLaughlin-Levrone attended the University of Kentucky for one year, where she won the NCAA national title in the 400-meter hurdles in 2018. She then turned professional and signed with New Balance in October 2018, reportedly receiving an annual base pay of $1.5 million.
At the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha, she won silver in the 400-meter hurdles and gold in the 4×400-meter relay. That silver medal proved to be the last time she finished below first place in the individual hurdles event.
Since then, she built a winning streak that extended to more than 23 consecutive 400-meter hurdles races through 2025.
Major Achievements
At the 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon, McLaughlin-Levrone broke the world record for the first time with a time of 51.90 seconds.
She went on to win the gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics on August 4, 2021, setting a new world record of 51.46 seconds in the final.
She broke her own world record four more times between 2021 and 2024. At the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, she ran 50.68 seconds to win the gold medal, becoming the first woman to break the 51-second barrier.
At the 2024 Paris Olympics on August 8, she set the current world record of 50.37 seconds, successfully defending her Olympic title.
She became the first woman to win two gold medals in the 400-meter hurdles and the first to do so in consecutive Olympics. That same day was also the day after her 25th birthday.
McLaughlin-Levrone also ran the second leg for the U.S. 4×400-meter relay team that won gold at Paris 2024 in a time of 3:15.27, a North American record.
Recent Season
In 2025, McLaughlin-Levrone made a major career shift, competing in the flat 400 meters instead of the hurdles. At the Grand Slam Track series debut in Kingston, Jamaica, she opened her season by winning the 400-meter hurdles on April 6, 2025.
She later focused on the flat 400 meters heading into the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo. At the September 2025 championships, she broke the 19-year-old American record of 48.70 seconds in the semifinal by running 48.29 seconds.
In the final on September 18, she ran 47.78 seconds to win the gold medal, setting both the American record and the World Championship record. Her time is the second-fastest women’s 400m ever run, behind Marita Koch’s 1985 world record of 47.60 seconds.
She also anchored the U.S. women’s 4x400m relay team to a meet record of 3:16.61 at the same championships, earning her fourth career World Championship gold medal.
In November 2025, World Athletics named her the 2025 World Athlete of the Year.
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone Career Stats and Records
- Current 400-meter hurdles world record: 50.37 seconds (Paris, August 8, 2024)
- American record in 400 meters flat: 47.78 seconds (Tokyo, September 18, 2025)
- Six consecutive 400-meter hurdles world records from 2021 to 2024
- Olympic medals: 4 gold (2020 Tokyo hurdles, 2020 Tokyo relay, 2024 Paris hurdles, 2024 Paris relay)
- World Championship gold medals: 4 (2022 hurdles, 2022 relay, 2025 flat 400m, 2025 relay)
- Unbeaten in 400-meter hurdles races since the 2019 World Championships
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone Awards and Championships
McLaughlin-Levrone won the Gatorade National Female Athlete of the Year award twice, in 2015-16 and 2016-17, becoming the first athlete to earn the honor twice. She won the 2015 World Youth Championship in the 400-meter hurdles in Cali, Colombia.
She earned five NCAA All-American designations during her one season at the University of Kentucky. World Athletics named her the 2025 World Athlete of the Year in recognition of her record-breaking season.
Her hometown of Dunellen, New Jersey, named the track at Columbia Park after her in August 2021.
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone Endorsements and Sponsorships
McLaughlin-Levrone signed a multi-year deal with New Balance in October 2018, reportedly earning an annual base pay of $1.5 million.
In 2021, she became a brand ambassador for Swiss luxury watchmaker Tag Heuer. She also holds endorsement deals with Gatorade and Neutrogena, the skincare brand she joined in 2023.
She was among the first athletes signed to the Grand Slam Track league, co-created by former Olympic champion Michael Johnson, which launched in 2025.
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone Husband
McLaughlin-Levrone is married to Andre Levrone Jr., a former NFL wide receiver. The two connected through Instagram in 2020 after he commented on one of her posts. They met in person shortly after and quickly developed a relationship rooted in their shared Christian faith.
Levrone Jr. attended the University of Virginia, where he caught 864 yards and scored eight touchdowns during his college career.
After graduating in 2017, he went undrafted but signed with the Baltimore Ravens. He then spent parts of three seasons across the Ravens, Carolina Panthers, and Jacksonville Jaguars before retiring from professional football in 2020.
Levrone proposed to McLaughlin at the Four Seasons Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona, on August 25, 2021. The couple married on May 5, 2022, at Early Mountain Vineyards in Madison, Virginia.
After retiring from football, Levrone Jr. worked in commercial real estate and later enrolled at The Master’s Seminary in Los Angeles to study theology.
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone Children
As of 2026, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Andre Levrone Jr. do not have children. No public announcements about children have been made.
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone Net Worth
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone’s estimated net worth is $2 million as of 2026. The bulk of her income comes from her endorsement deals with New Balance, TAG Heuer, Gatorade, and Neutrogena, alongside competition prize money and appearance fees.
Her New Balance deal, signed in 2018, reportedly included an annual base pay of $1.5 million. Prize money from winning at the Paris 2024 Olympics through the World Athletics program added $100,000 from that event alone.
She also earned prize money from the Grand Slam Track series in 2025 and various Diamond League events.
She published her autobiography, Far Beyond Gold: Running from Fear to Faith, in January 2024, which added book royalties to her income portfolio.
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone Social Media
McLaughlin-Levrone is active on Instagram under the handle @sydneymclaughlin16, where she shares race updates, sponsor content, and personal moments with her husband. She also maintains a presence on X (formerly Twitter).
The Bottom Line
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone won her second consecutive Olympic gold medal in the 400-meter hurdles at the 2024 Paris Olympics, running a world record of 50.37 seconds on August 8, the day after her 25th birthday.
She then pivoted to the flat 400 meters in 2025 and won the World Championship gold in Tokyo with a time of 47.78 seconds, the second-fastest in history.
She comes from a track and field family where both her parents competed at the college level, and her father, Willie McLaughlin, reached the semifinals of the 1984 U.S. Olympic Trials in the 400 meters. Her deep Christian faith shapes how she approaches competition and public life, as she detailed in her 2024 memoir.
As of 2026, McLaughlin-Levrone is targeting new goals in both the 400 meters and 400-meter hurdles and has expressed interest in competing at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
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