Sydney McLaughlin's Gold Rush
Five years after Rio, L’OFFICIEL’s July 2021 digital coverstar Sydney McLaughlin is back for another chance at an Olympic medal—this time with a new coach, a global ambassadorship with Tag Heuer, and a new outlook on life.
Photography Nino Muñoz
Styling by Danielle Goldberg
When the pandemic suspended as much as it upended life in America, all-consuming activities like tie-dye, sourdough starter kits, and Regency-era TV shows ushered in a bewildering, strangely unifying experience as we collectively bided our time, confined to the four walls of our home. But for Sydney McLaughlin, an Olympic track and field athlete, who adheres to a rigorous six-days-a-week training schedule that spans 11 months out of the year, there was no pause. There was no break. “It was...interesting,” muses the Los Angeles-based 21-year-old professional 400-meter hurdler. The lockdown meant working out at home, running on street medians, and jumping fences to sneak into closed-off tracks.
“We had to fly out to Arizona for a month just so we could train consistently on a track because LA was still shut down,” she says to L’OFFICIEL over a Zoom call. “We just had to make the most of what we had, honestly. The circumstances were definitely not in our favor, but somehow we still found a way to make the most of it.”
Born in the small town of Dunellen, New Jersey, to track athletes Willie and Mary McLaughlin, who met at Manhattan College, McLaughlin grew up alongside her siblings, all of whom are runners, in a milieu that fostered a great love for running. At the age of six, her parents signed her up for her first meet, and it was then that she knew track was her future. “Running was just fun. Winning for the first time and seeing how happy my parents were and getting rewarded with candy—I decided that’s what I wanted to do,” she says. “My parents didn’t really coach or train me—they just let me run and I would win, and they saw potential in that.”
She continued to run all throughout her childhood and into high school, winning races and collecting medals along the way. At the age of 14, she placed second in the USATF Junior National Championships with a 55.63 time that set a national high school freshman record. The next year, she placed first in a number of prestigious races, winning gold in the NSAF Indoor Nationals, NSAF Nationals, and U.S. World Youth Trials. But the big, life-changing milestone moment came in 2016, when, at 16 years old, she headed to the U.S. Olympic Trials, a 10-day event in which Olympic hopefuls compete to qualify and make it on Team USA (her dad went to the trials in 1984 but didn’t qualify). There can only be three athletes for any track and field event—and “Syd the Kid” came in third for the 400-meter hurdles, making her the youngest person to make the team since 1980. Did she feel like she had to overcompensate for her age? “No, I don’t think so.” She pauses, and then with a humble shrug: “I don’t think anyone expected me to make the team. It really did feel like luck at the time, so there were no expectations at all. I was just there to do my best and represent New Jersey, my family, and my country the best I could.”
My identity is not found in whether I win or lose a race, what place I get, or how much money I make. Track is not who I am, it’s what I do.
At the time, she only had her high school training behind her, a fairly lax, lenient schedule that still made running fun—but once she made the team, she stresses that it became definitively not fun. “There was so much pressure that day, and I remember crossing the line, and I was like, Yes, the race is over; I got third, that’s top three. I was relieved, and then was like, Oh no, my season just got a month and a half longer. It took a few days for it to sink in, that I made the team, that I’m going to Rio,” recalls McLaughlin, who later celebrated the achievement by devouring a cheeseburger. “Making the Olympic team changed things for me. Once you get on the big stage, there are medals and titles and money involved, and it sucks the fun out of it. That’s when it started to shift toward a more professional mindset for sure.”
The pressure she faced then—and has continued to face ever since—is why her new brand ambassadorship with luxury watchmaker Tag Heuer, whose motto is “Don’t crack under pressure,” is such a seamless, natural fit. The 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro marked McLaughlin’s first brush with professional athleticism on a global scale, and she felt the weight of that in her every move. She describes the whole thing as a “completely new experience,” drinking in her surroundings, being in awe of the professional athletes she admires, and learning from the best. But, she didn’t medal—McLaughlin placed fifth in the semifinals. Yes, she was upset. Yes, she was hard on herself. “I got so fearful and nervous and anxious while I was there, so I didn’t perform to the best of my ability,” she reflects. “I had never been at a high-level competition like that before, and I’m happy I got the experience, so I could mature over the next four, five years, and come back better.” It wasn’t a crack under pressure, but a moment of growth.
McLaughlin learned two important lessons from Rio: 1. to not change whatever it took to get her there, and 2. how to handle the spotlight that was thrust upon her for being an athlete on a global platform. She went from a seemingly ordinary teenager to an internationally recognized track darling overnight, and everyone suddenly had an opinion about her, from what she should be doing to what she should be wearing to how she should carry herself. “It happened fast because I was on this stage where you’re expected to have it all together, and I had to learn a lot of things really quickly,” says McLaughlin, pointing to one particular instance of what newfound fame brought her—finding out, two days into Rio, that a stranger created an Instagram profile posing as her, an account that amassed something like 200,000 followers. It’s not hard to understand why she garnered such immense interest: She was a track prodigy—and stunning—competing in a world-famous event.
Life after Rio was another major hurdle, an adjustment so great that, for the first time, McLaughlin contemplated quitting track. It’s worth noting that for many Olympians, the abrupt return to their ordinary lives, the sudden crash in adrenaline or purpose have led to what others have coined the “post-Olympic depression,” a phenomenon that has only come to light in recent years with pro athletes speaking out and pushing the issue to the forefront, the most prominent being 23-time gold medalist Michael Phelps. In McLaughlin’s case, her adjustment was compounded by animosity online—haters spewing vitriol like, “You went all the way to Rio and didn’t medal, what’s the point?”—and teen bullies in real life.
“I still had one more year of high school after Rio, and there was jealousy from other girls because of the experience I had, and it became a lot—to the point where it made me not want to run track anymore,” she says. “It taught me that success can be an amazing thing, but there’s backlash that comes with it. I wish I didn’t let it get to me as much as I did, but I’m also glad I had that experience because it doesn’t go away. There are grownups that still feel similarly. It’s a part of life, and I’ve learned to let it roll off my back.”
The key to having your own successful career is focusing on your own success. Look at what’s in front of you, because everyone’s journeys are different.
Accepting it as an axiom was, obviously, a challenge at first. She was told to “not worry” about how others perceive her, but as a 17-year-old, she cared. She wanted people to like her. She struggled with her identity. And she couldn’t help but be caught in the web of social media, obsessing over likes and follower counts. Her parents lended their support, retraining her focus on what was important and reminding her that her talent is a gift, that it has purpose, and that it’s meant to be used, shown, and shared.
She matriculated at the University of Kentucky, where she won the NCAA title in her event. After her freshman year, she made the decision to turn pro, moving to Los Angeles in 2018 to train with Joanna Hayes as her coach. But when the pandemic hit, which ultimately delayed the Olympic Games in Tokyo by a year, she looked at it as a blessing, because the extra time gave her the opportunity to switch her coach to Bob Kersee, a 400-meter hurdler in his day, who understands the race in a veritably profound way. For context, the 400-meter hurdles is one of the hardest races. “I don’t know anyone who loves to run 400 meter, and then to put hurdles, it’s craziness,” says McLaughlin, whose lean 5-foot-9-inch frame makes her physically predisposed to excel at the event. “If you can run 400 meters and you can hurdle, you’re automatically going to be a 400-meter hurdler.”
McLaughlin's training paid off, as she sprinted to a world record at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials in Eugene, Oregon in late June 2021. Finishing the women's 400-meter hurdles at 51.90 seconds, she outraced the reigning Olympic and world champion Dalilah Muhammad, and became the first woman to cross the finish line in under 52 seconds.
But even with a newly minted world record, she wants to be clear that track doesn’t define her as a person. It used to. For the longest time, McLaughlin says she believed track was her whole life. But when the pandemic hit, her time in isolation forced her to reflect and she saw room for change. “Being home by myself helped me grow in my faith, which helped me get through the pandemic,” she says. “And it helped me understand that my identity is not found in whether I win or lose a race, what place I get, or how much money I make. Track is not who I am, it’s what I do.”
So, who is Sydney McLaughlin outside of track? “I’m a comedian—at least I think I’m a comedian,” she says with a smile, as she rattles off a list of things she loves to do, including baking, writing poetry, listening to music, watching movies on Disney+. And she also openly embraces new experiences, like traveling to far-flung destinations (an opportunity that track has afforded her), brand partnerships, and her very first fashion photoshoot for L’OFFICIEL, which differs from her usual sport shoots by the lack of activewear and “athletic-looking stuff.” Slipping on designer clothes and luxury watches, like Tag Heuer's sleek Aquaracer Professional 300, McLaughlin gets to explore a new side of herself.
Off-duty, her style varies, though comfort is always a priority. But on the track, you can almost always find her sporting a matching sports bra-and-tights set with a half-zip and her 880 running shoes—all New Balance. And when she’s running—training and otherwise—she gives it her all. When she’s about to compete, she gets in a zone where her head is focused, she can’t hear anything, and her legs are shaking in anticipation. “Once the gun goes off, there’s not a lot of time to think, just react, and sometimes I can hear the footsteps of the other runners, but for the most part, I’m focused on my lane,” says McLaughlin, who later uses it as an analogy for finding success in life. “If you’re fixated on the person next to you, you’re not keeping your eyes on the hurdles in your lane, and I think the key to having your own successful career is focusing on your own success. Look at what’s in front of you, because everyone’s journeys are different.”
Which brings us to McLaughlin's next hurdle: competing in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
HAIR Erika Verrett
MAKEUP Lisa Storey
PRODUCTION Dana Brockman VIEWFINDERS
PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Molly O’Brien
PROPS STYLIST Daniel Horowitz
DIGITAL TECH Sean Deckert
STYLIST ASSISTANT Zoe Heller
PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS Din Morris and Chris Olsen
