Gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone tells the story behind her winning tiara
After breaking her own world record to clinch the gold in the Women’s 400m hurdles, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone celebrated in a sparkling tiara.
Among the many winners Team USA can boast during the 2024 Paris Olympics, one is now bonafide track-and-field royalty. On Thursday, runner Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone earned her latest gold medal, breaking her own world record to win the Women’s 400-meter hurdles — and was crowned one of America’s newest princesses as she donned a sparkling gold tiara.
After clinching the win in a stunning 50.37 seconds, McLaughlin-Levrone made her way to the stands to greet family and friends. There, her sister-in-law placed the tiara atop her head.
“She told me months ago she would bring it, and it just was a really cute, fun thing,” McLaughlin-Levrone told People magazine. “She was like, ‘I’m going to crown you.'”
“Sporting the crown for her [sister-in-law],” the hurdler proudly returned to the track wearing the tiara while wrapped in the American flag, drawing cheers from the stadium. Coincidentally, the win was also Team USA’s 100th medal at the 2024 Olympic Games, a “super special” milestone for McLaughlin-Levrone.
“I don’t even know how to put it into words,” she told People.
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With her latest gold medal, McLaughlin-Levrone became the first woman to win two gold medals in the 400-meter hurdles, and, after nabbing the gold in Tokyo, is the first to do so in consecutive Olympics. At 25, she is also the first athlete to break four world records in the same event, setting four of those records in the span of 13 months. It’s a legacy already worth celebrating, but as McLaughlin-Levrone told People, the tiara wasn’t what she was most looking forward to.
“I’m gonna celebrate with some good food … Some very good food,” she said, adding, “A cheeseburger is first.”
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