Why Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone's Husband Leaves Her Alone On Race Days
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Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone is a gold medal favorite in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
She's been married to former NFL star Andre Levrone Jr. since 2022.
The two share a special race-day ritual, she tells Women's Health.
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone is a gold medal favorite in the Paris Olympics'400-meter hurdles, which will have its finals on August 8. Sydney has had a great year of competition so far, breaking her own world record at the Olympic Trials in June.
While the 24-year-old has plenty of fans, her husband Andre Levrone Jr. will definitely be cheering her on. In case you’re not familiar with him, Andre is a former NFL player who slid into Sydney's DMs (though they shared a mutual friend beforehand). The two tied the knot in 2022 at a Virginia vineyard.
Andre is also a Sydney superfan: In fact, Sydney told People in January that Andre is her “biggest hype man.”
“I'm so grateful for Andre because he understands the athlete life, the day-to-day, what it takes, and all the little things,” she said. “We're very similar just in how we're wired because of that, which helps us understand each other.”
They're so similar, in fact, that Andre knows exactly what to do for Sydney on race days. Essentially, he just leaves her alone to focus, she wrote in her memoir Far Beyond Gold: Running from Fear to Faith.
“We've definitely developed our routine and he understands when I'm locked in,” Sydney told Women's Health for her July/August cover story. “It's nothing personal, just trying to stay super focused and so yeah, he takes care of certain things for me on race day, which I really appreciate so I can focus on what I got to do.”
Far Beyond Gold: Running from Fear to Faith
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Sydney said that it’s “huge” having a partner who understands athletics, saying that he “lived the experiences, so he understands.”
"It makes a difference—a huge difference," she shared. "Just being able to be on the same page about a lot of these things and what it takes mentally."
Sydney added that he's great at a "pep talk or encouragement," or even "giving speeches."
Currently, Andre is enrolled in seminary school in California. One day, the two hope to open a church together. "I don't know all what that looks like. The Lord will definitely have to guide us there," she said. "Even if it's something doing with the church—planning events or something like that. I just enjoy planning things."
She's hoping to become a mom to two to three kids. And given the couple's competitive nature, she said it's a "very strong possibility" that they would play sports, too.
“I don't think either one of us would put pressure on them to be like world-class athletes or anything like that,” Sydney said, adding that she “definitely would want them to be active and enjoy sports from a young age."
"Whether it's track or football, I think they would have some natural coaches in the house," she continued.
Rooting for you, Sydney!
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