Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone’s Bold Move Nearly Cost the Track and Field Icon Her Coach in 2022: “Can’t Do Long-Distance”
Knowing where your allegiance lies is crucial to navigating your path through the world. But luckily, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone has been able to find herself a mentor who is more than willing to go the mile with her.
And yet, it wasn’t a smooth sail still. Instead, both McLaughlin-Levrone and her coach Bob Kersee had to make sacrifices for themselves to ensure the other felt comfortable at work.
With four Olympic gold medals to her name, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone has cemented her status as one of the greatest track and field athletes of our generation. However, even she faced tough career decisions that weighed heavily on her mind, made even more challenging with her then-boyfriend, Andre Levrone, in the mix.
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone had to prioritize her needs
In her book Far Beyond Gold: Running from Fear to Faith, the New Jersey native talks about how she once came close to parting ways with her coach. And a lot of it pivoted on her relationship with NFL star Andre.
“While Andre and I were trying to navigate relationships with family, we also had to decide where to live. This decision introduced new kinds of uncertainty, frustrations, a few disagreements with Andre, and temptations to fear,” said McLaughlin about how living in two corners of the country was making things difficult.
“At the time, Andre was working in commercial real estate in Baltimore. I was training with Bobby in Los Angeles. I didn’t want to force Andre to quit his job and move across the country to support my career,” it was a difficult course to chart, but Sydney was determined to find common ground.
Then, Andre found a job in Arizona and the couple felt like moving there would be the best option for everyone. However, the question of how to continue her work with Kersee remained a mystery up till 2022.
“I couldn’t ask Bobby to leave Los Angeles. I wasn’t the only runner he coached. Not to mention he had called Los Angeles home for decades. But there would be no switching coaches,” thankfully, McLaughlin-Levrone knew for sure what she wanted.
After a few attempts from Bob to fly down to Arizona to train the Olympian, it was clear that things weren’t working out like that, and Kersee’s old-school view had a lot to do with it. “I can’t do long-distance coaching..if I’m going to get your best from you, I got to be with you day in and day out,” the hurdle specialist writes in her book.
And so, it was decided: Sydney would go back to the City of Angels, and Andre didn’t hesitate to quit his job and follow her there. But this wasn’t the only time that she had to bow down to Kersee’s rigidity only to find success.
Bob Kersee’s staunch outlook has only helped the McLaughlin-Levrone
Over the years, fans have criticized McLaughlin-Levrone several times for her lack of appearance in track and field events. It has become a common thing to see the 25-year-old sit out tournaments unless it’s Olympic or World Championships year.
While fans slam her for this kind of behavior, Kersee makes it clear that ensuring her peak health is the first thing on his to-do list.
On the other hand, considering McLaughlin-Levrone was able to defend both her Olympic gold medals at the Paris Games earlier this year would make it clear that Bob’s reservation about allowing her to compete frequently has paid off in the most impressive way possible.
Sydney’s Parisian campaign went so well, that the organizers of the 2024 Diaond League had to come up with a special race just so she could run at the season finale of the prestigious tournament.
Though she wasn’t able to run in the final, McLaughli-Levrone’s impressive feat in the City of Love was honored in Brussels. So what do you think Kersee foresees in the career of one of his best students? Tell us with a comment!
