How 'turmoil' forced Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone to quit social media at 16

How 'turmoil' forced Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone to quit social media at 16

Abigael Wafula 17:00 - 25.11.2024

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone opened up about when she deleted her social media accounts before making her Olympic debut at the age of 16.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone is undoubtedly one of the most chilled athletes but at some point, she was forced to quit social media for a while following some unforeseen circumstances.

The 400m hurdles world record holder revealed in her ‘Far Beyond Gold: Running from Fear to Faith’ book as she explained why she made such a decision just before the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, a huge fan of being on social media since her high school days, seemingly admitted that too much of consuming content online was not healthy and that it is wise for athletes to deactivate or even delete their accounts especially when it brings more harm than good.

The four-time Olympic champion revealed how she would always update her fans on everything going on in her life but that incident changed her perspective. However, she got back into the internet and remains one of the most followed athletes on Instagram, with 1.5 million followers.

"I'd deleted my accounts a few weeks before the Olympic trials. Throughout high school, I'd been active on social media, checking my Instagram account multiple times a day. I liked posting what I was doing and seeing what my friends were up to,” Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone said.

“But by the Olympic trials, I had deleted Instagram and Twitter after an incident earlier that year. What used to be a place where I connected with friends had become a source of turmoil."

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone also explained what led to her missing the final of the 400m hurdles at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. She finished fifth in the semifinal of the race.

She explained that things were going well during the race until she got into a moment when she could hardly move, before admitting that she did not even put in the work to get her spark back.

“Halfway through the race, I was running well, within striking distance of the final. But at some point over the next 100 meters, my instinct abandoned me, and I was left with just my thoughts. It was the first time it ever disappeared on the track,” she said.

“Around the final turn, my patented final push to the finish line didn’t show up. I didn’t even try to find it. Instead, I slowed down just enough to make sure I wouldn’t make it to the finals."

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