WATCH: Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone's video of impressive long-jump resurfaces online after American wins multiple medals at Paris Olympics
A video of Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone performing a long jump has recently resurfaced online, following her remarkable performance at the recently concluded Paris Olympics. McLaughlin-Levrone capped off her successful Paris Olympics campaign with two gold medals in the women’s 400m hurdles and 4x400m relay events.
Additionally, McLaughlin-Levrone shattered the world record for the sixth time in the 400m hurdles event at the quadrennial games. This was the second time she broke the world record at the Olympics, having first done so at the previous edition in Tokyo.
Following her exceptional accomplishments at the 2024 Paris Olympics, an old video of the American runner from her high school days has resurfaced online, where she can be seen performing long jumps.
Here's a look at the video (via RunnerSpace/ sydneymclaughlinfans) shared on Threads:
When McLaughlin-Levrone was just 17, she competed in the long jump event at the New York Eastern States Championship while representing Union Catholic High School. She achieved a best effort of 6.29m to win the event.
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone recalls the time when she tried long jump
In an interaction with Citius Mag journalists in 2023, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone opened up about her love for long jump, saying (5:16 onwards),
“I long jumped when I was young and I loved it. I absolutely loved it but when I went out to high school, you know, I had to stick with the running events. I didn't have time to expand into the jumps as much because there's relays and open events and all that stuff.”
The 25-year-old then mentioned this specific event when she performed long jumps during her senior year of high school.
“But one time, my senior year I was like just let me long jump, I don't know what's gonna happen. Yeah, I love long jump. Bobby [Kersee], I hope you're watching and they were like okay, go for it. I kind of watched videos okay like you have to hold your legs out longer and just went for it and honestly I had so much fun.
McLaughlin-Levrone also joked about how Bobby Kersee didn't let them do the long jump, even though she liked to, adding:
“You know maybe you know if God willing Bobby don't let me long jump one time."
It is worth noting that Kersee has been the coach of Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone since 2020. Under his guidance, her career has flourished, resulting in four Olympic gold medals and three world championships.