Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone’s Dream for USA Led Coach Go Extreme Lengths to Make It a Reality: “Looked Absurd”
Is Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone’s success more about her talent or the unwavering support from Bob Kersee?
As a track and field athlete, having a good coach will take you a long way. While personal dedication is undoubtedly the cornerstone for success, an equally determined coach can be a game-changer.
With four Olympic gold medals to her name, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone can testify to this. With Bob Kersee behind her, the New Jersey track star can stomp forward without any second thought in her mind. And has Kersee been a boon in Levrones life!
Kersee has trained some of the greatest track runners of all time.
From the legendary Florence Griffith-Joyner to the 7x Olympic gold medalist Allyson Felix: the veteran trainer has worked closely with some true giants of the sport. It was only natural he would do the same with McLaughlin-Levron considering the potential he saw in her student.
In her book, Far Beyond Gold: Running from Fear to Faith, the sprinter talked about how things got difficult to manage just before the Tokyo Olympics. With COVID-19 ravaging the world for months, training became a nightmare, said McLaughlin.
“As surges of COVID-19 came and went throughout the season, Bobby and I had to look far and wide for a place to train. At times, I drove more than an hour from my apartment to the nearest available track…During particularly bad surges of the virus, it seemed that every track in Los Angeles was closed,” the Kentucky Wildcats alum remembers.
She also talked about how Kersee would go to extreme lengths to solve the problem and made his best effort to ensure that McLaughlin-Levrone could train with the quadrennial event coming up.
Noting how it was almost as if physical exercise was being frowned upon, Sydney again writes, “ It was insane. All we were trying to do was run around an oval, out in the open air, with nobody else around, yet it seemed almost illegal.” But then, drastic times require drastic measures, and Bob Kersee answered.
“When looking for a track became too much of a hassle, Bobby took me out to the median…in the middle of San Vicente Boulevard, one of the busiest streets in Los Angeles,” the Olympian sprinter’s words become jubilant as she talks about how Kersee would leave no stone unturned to make her dream a reality.
But it wasn’t a pretty sight, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone admits. “…we looked absurd,” she confesses. With Kersee making it clear he would go the mile with her, it was only rational that he’d try to retain the momentum gained in Tokyo even after the tournament ended.
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone has backup in her corner
Love came into the hurdle specialist’s life right around this time. She met Andre Levrone, and soon could feel that he was the one. The Olympian and the NFL star got to know each other during those long days of solitary confinement and could feel they had to be together despite the locational disadvantage. Sydney’s then-boyfriend relocated to LA so she could continue her training with Kersee.
Knowing the importance and impact he had in McLaughlin’s stellar career, Andre also didn’t hesitate to leave his job in Arizona.
“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,” she said why the decision for her to remain in LA just made sense, especially after her double gold win at the 2021 Olympic Games.
Thankfully, the Ravens star also tried his best to create the least amount of friction in Sydney’s life. She says he was patient and only wanted only the best for them together.
“This relationship can’t be real, I thought…It was completely different from any relationship I’d been in before…it seemed too good to be true,” she fondly notes how her quivering heart was a difficult thing to control during that time. Past experiences didn’t help, but the couple found their way through the dilemma. They married in 2022, and live in the City of Angels.
Who do you think gave Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone the greater will to reach out and grab life by the scruff? Tell us with a comment.
