Olympic Track And Field Trials | 16-Year-Old Sydney McLaughlin Qualifies To Go To Rio
The Olympics were always on Sydney McLaughlin"s radar except the games the 16-year-old runner had in mind were those happening in 2020, or even 2024. When she placed third at the Team USA Track and Field Trials a few weeks ago, though, it became clear she wouldn"t need to wait that long. That day, she qualified for Rio and set a world junior record simultaneously, NBD. Sydney is a ridiculously gifted athlete, but track doesn"t always come first for the teenager: She knows when to prioritize her friends and family, in addition to her other hobbies.
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1. Sydney is the youngest U.S. Olympian to compete for track and field in the Olympics since Carol Lewis in 1980. She turns 17 on Aug. 7, was born in 1999, and is a rising senior in high school. She doesn"t even have her driving license yet!
2. But she"ll miss the opening ceremonies, because she wants to celebrate her 17th birthday with her friends at home. She will fly out to Rio on Aug. 9. Priorities, people.
3. She set a junior world record in the 400-meter hurdles at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, breaking a record that had been held for over 30 years.
4. Even at 16, she knows that the way her body looks is irrelevant. When Yahoo Celebrity asked her if she thought she"d "sacrificed the ideal body type to be athletic" (Seriously, that"s the first question you want to ask the youngest Olympic runner in 30 years?), Sydney had the most perfect response. "I don"t care," she said. "I don"t have abs, but I don"t think any of that matters when you"re running a race, as long as you"re doing what you have to do. And the same thing for looks. People take how they look very seriously when it comes to sports. But at the end of the day, if you"re not crossing the line with a certain time, I don"t think those things really matter."
5. She comes from a family of track stars. Her brother, Taylor, is a hurdler at the University of Michigan, and her father, Willie, ran in the 1984 Olympic trials, when he made it to semifinals.
6. But her dad had to "bait" her into trying out the sport. He"d offer Sydney a chocolate and almond candy bar every time she finished a race, the Washington Post reports.
7. It took her high school coach 15 minutes to know Sydney was special. Since then, she has never lost a hurdle race at the high school level, so it"s safe to say her coach was onto something.
8. She has a lucky Minions blanket, which she will bring with her to Rio. She actually had a bit of a scare at the trials when she thought she had lost it. Here"s to hoping that doesn"t happen again.
9. Sydney also always wears a twist in her hair when competing. That"s another good luck charm of hers.
10. According to her coach, she"s sometimes too humble. In fact, she doubted herself so much at the trials that she had a bit of a breakdown. "I saw the atmosphere," Sydney told the Washington Post. "It was just like any other meet, but at the same time it was on TV, [and] I was getting texts from all my friends. There was just so much more work put into it than a regular high school meet that it became overwhelming at one point." Her dad and brother cheered her on, and she is ready to take the Olympics by storm.
11. She volunteers for her local chapter of Hope Worldwide, a charity organization that distributes fire safety and disaster relief information to New Jersey families. She also helps with the Hurricane Sandy recovery efforts.
12. And she started the juggling club at her New Jersey high school. Sydney is passionate about throwing b***s and bowling pins in the air, and she can even do it on a unicycle! Her goal after the Olympics is to focus her attention on juggling so her club can perform at the Union Catholic pep rally. Is there anything this girl can"t do?!
Source: http://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/a62361/olympic-sprinter-sydney-mclaughlin-facts/
