McLaughlin overcomes self doubt to fulfill Olympic dream

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

The weight of the Olympic Trials hit 16-year-old Sydney McLaughlin like a load of bricks when she arrived in Oregon five days before her competition began. 

I can't do it. I'm not good enough. I'm not ready.

The words that went through McLaughlin's head were negative and they told her to get out of the meet and focus on World Juniors instead. 

"The firat day I got here, I had a nervous breakdown and I was not going to run," McLaughlin admitted. "It's a big meet with a lot of cameras and people and sometimes I forget that I'm only 16. I don't get paid for this. I do it for fun." 

Of course, in the days after the Fourth of July she was able to ease into the buzz of activity and manage the pressures that come with competition at the Olympic Trials. On Sunday, McLaughlin broke her own high school record, and the world junior record, by running 54.15 for third place and a spot on the U.S. Olympic team. 

McLaughlin will be the youngest U.S. Olympian to compete in track and field at the Games since 1972 -- an era before professional track and field.

In order to get there, Union Catholic coach Mike McCabe, assistant Luiz Cartagena, and McLaughlin's family all had ease the strain and let her know it would be OK. 

The flowing grace, power and speed that McLaughlin possesses are all genetic gifts that helped her move to the front of the line as an athlete. In the month prior to Eugene, she had broken the high school national record in the 400-meter hurdles with 54.46 at New Balance Nationals Outdoor and then subsequently been presented by Allsyon Felix with the Gatorade High School Female Athlete of the Year Award. 

She is used to biggest stages in high school track and field. But the Olympic Trials was something different. McLaughlin was not a shoo-in to make the team the way Vashti Cunningham seemed to be in the high jump. And she was not a longshot to make the team the way Michael Norman or Noah Lyles or her brother, Taylor, were. 

She was projected for anywhere from second to fourth, meaning she could make it but she also might not. 

It didn't help that when she arrived in Oregon, she felt a muscle strain in her thigh that made her feel less than 100 percent. Fortunately, her body felt better after a few days' rest and with the help of massage.

But the stress was something else.

"It's the self doubt that every athlete has, from high school kids all the way to the elites," McCabe said. "Everyone has it. She had to realize that even though it was a big stage, she was capable. Older women, collegiates, pros, they all have the same self doubts. You have to toe the line, face your fears and see where it comes out on the other end."

The pressure, whether physical or mental, or both, got to athletes for 10 solid days at the Trials. Shamier Little, the three-time NCAA champion, was considered a lock to make the team in the 400-meter hurdles. Instead, she was fifth in the semifinals and did not advance. Keni Harrison is the world leader in the 100 hurdles and didn't make it either. Those were only two examples.

"I never want my heart to be this broke again," Little tweeted on Sunday after the final went on without her.

McLaughlin was still very nervous for her first round race on Thursday, July 7. But with a familiar face, high schooler Anna Cockrell, in her prelim, she was able to win and advance. The next day was a little bit easier emotionally, and McLaughlin ran the second-fastest time in the semifinals to earn a middle lane for the final.

"I think for her, it was a different kind of stress," Taylor McLaughlin said. "She was ranked No. 3 or 2. For me it was 15th. I saw her that day she was stressed out of her mind and was sort of like 'It's whatever.'  I did my best to encourage her and help her calm down."

The admission that McLaughlin had a vulnerable moment may come as a surprise from someone who is so talented. 

But it's part of the process of growing into an elilte, becoming an Olympian.

After Dalilah Muhammad sprinted out to an early lead in the final, McLaughlin was in the usual position of chasing the leader. Rounding the curve and coming onto the home straight, McCabe thought she was perfectly positioned to make the top three.

"My belief was that if she was in contention with 100 to go she would make the podium," he said.

Muhammad ran the race of her life to run 52.88 seconds. Ashley Spencer was second in 54.02. McLaughlin crossed in 54.15 and suddenly ... she was an OIympian.

"As kids, we'd watch the Olympics on TV, we'd watch the hurdles, we'd be like 'Wow, it'd be amazing if one of us could do that,'" Taylor McLaughlin said. "And now she's done it at 16. It's insane."

Sydney was genuinely humbled by making the team, something she thought she couldn't do a week earlier.

"It's unreal," she said. "I can't believe this is happening right now. I wanted to run my race and get it over with and have it be a confidence booster for Juniors. Now, Juniors is practice for Rio."

McLaughlin said she did not go to the starting line expecting to win or even make the team. 

"I had none of that (in my head)," she said. "My mind was on finishing this race and then going to eat a cheeseburger."