Sydney McLaughlin-Leverone releases a 13-minute film on her 2023 season opener

I know that most people think that Kersee and Sydney are leaning towards doing the 400h in Budapest. But what if she goes 49 low, or sub 49, in New York this weekend?

Kersee is an unpredictable guy. I don't think Sydney running the 400 flat at Worlds instead of the 400h is completely off the table.

After all, Sydney hasn't run even one 100h or 400h race this year, and she is planning on doing the 400 flat at USA's. Would she really go into Worlds and run a complicated race like the 400h with very few, if any, outdoor hurdle races under her belt this year?

Her race anxiety was still a problem, but it used to be much worse.

A few years ago Sydney said she had a talk with her Dad who told her that if being in the spotlight as a top runner bothered her that much then maybe she shouldn't be a professional runner and he wouldn't mind if she quit running and did something else.

Fun fact - Sydney once said that if she could do any career she wanted, she would get a job telling Dad jokes. I think it's funny that someone her age is that into Dad jokes.

Sydney has always been an anxious person who needs people with a strong presence in her life. Bobby Kersee and her husband are just two of the latest.

When Sydney left college and moved to LA, her mother lived with her for a year because Sydney wasn't able to live on her own.

After her mom finally decided to leave LA, Sydney tried to latch onto other strong people, including Rapper 2 Chainz. (Yes, really.) Then she had a religious breakthrough and found her pastor husband shortly after that, and no more rappers. Now her husband is one of the strong presences her life. And she likes it that way.

There's nothing wrong with an anxious person surrounding themself with strong confident people. It's smart. Be honest about what your weaknesses are, and find people who compliment you. No one is great at everything. No shame in that.

Why can't American track and field consist of Emma Coburn and Grant Fisher only? Are we really asking for too much?

My point was more that I am 99% sure Kersee already knows what event she will be running in Budapest. He will have based her whole training programme on that already.

In terms of what I think she will run, I think I agree with you, it's more likely to be the 400m flat, for that reason you've mentioned. She would be mad entering into the Worlds with no, or just one hurdles race (assuming she did one after the nationals)

Or she could get a sports psych and not be dependent on other people the rest of her life.

But even if she could learn to drop her anxieties and be strong and confident just by surrounding herself with the people she wants to be like and mimicking them, those people might not take kindly to her not being submissive anymore. I don’t think it’s smart at all.

How about everyone works on being legitimately happy and healthy? This whole thing is like redneck engineering “if it works, it works”. It works until it doesn’t. And even though she’s able to put up good results, is she as happy as she could be? That should be a consideration on whether or not it’s working.

The 3 posts in a row by Novaprid610, Awsi Dooger, and Novaprid610 on the previous page might be the greatest exchange in letsrun history. I'm serious. Three very well written, well thought out posts about the same topic with totally different conclusions.

I must admit my gut instinct was more along the lines of Awsi Dooger but loved how Novapride made me think all of this stuff that I didn't like might actually be great. Like her jogging in the 60h at NB infuriated me but he says it's the ultimate sign of an athlete getting out of her comfort zone.

Anyway, as for which event. Why not both? Unless you want to make it super dramatic so she can go for the double for the first time at the Olympics - which by the way would just put more pressure on her - the double is quite doable. She'd only have to run twice on the same day once. She'd have the 400h at 6:50 pm and then the 400 semis at 9:10 pm.

400 Schedule:
ROUND DAY LOCAL TIME
Heats SUNDAY 20 AUGUST 2023 09:35
Semi-Final MONDAY 21 AUGUST 2023 21:10
Final WEDNESDAY 23 AUGUST 2023 21:35

400h schedule:
ROUND DAY LOCAL TIME
Heats MONDAY 21 AUGUST 2023 18:50
Semi-Final TUESDAY 22 AUGUST 2023 20:25
Final THURSDAY 24 AUGUST 2023 21:50

I much prefer the Sifan Hassan take on racing. Don't be afraid to challenge yourself, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Let's don't over think or over dramatize this.

Is a world record holder with her talent level human just like the rest of us? This video didn’t make her any more relatable to me. It only made her appear weak-minded. I prefer Jakob’s arrogance over this kind of drama.

SMcL is my fave. No way am I watching this to ruin it. Can't stand athletes thanking god for their gifts. God doesn't give a shoot about your sport.

Sydney doesn't have enough elite 400 flat experience to be confident enough to do the double this year. Kersee knows that. So he is giving her enough 400 flat experience this year so that Sydney can double at next year's Olympics.

It's not about Kersee wanting to wait another year to make the double more dramatic. He doesn't think that Sydney is ready. I agree. I don't think she's ready. But if she can go sub 49 at least once this year, which I think she can, then the double is on for next year.

Rojo, thanks this is a double schedule I can get excited about. After 25 minutes between finals in 94 degrees anything is doable.

The film is nice, it's excellent quality. I don't think it's Syd's idea, but from management team. They will most likely do whole season like this. It gives Syd ammo for her social media and can be shared with network for background info and with New Balance etc for their PR.

God should always be thanked for what He gives us. God does care about our jobs! It is good and right for us to pray that He guides us and that He blesses us.

This is one thing that I agree about with Syd.

Why should it matter. If you have a thought and want to post it, go for it! I've seen several posts that were after the first and actually performed better because they were more compelling. Have you ever thought about just reading the posts you want to read rather than taking an unnecessary dig at someone? Give it a try.

Probably, but who cares.

You pretty much have to be arrogant to be a superstar athlete, at least on the outside. It gets into your competitor's heads and throws them off just like it got into yours.

Plus, if any of our mid-distance or distance runner heroes made a highly polished video like this we'd be eating them up and asking for more of them.

I watched the video and your takes are very far off, especially your 4th point. All she is saying is that she hates the buildup on race day, not racing itself - she just wants to be on the starting line and compete. I’m sure most if not all professional athletes, and entertainers, for that matter, feel the same way. No different than football players just wanting to be on the field and playing - I am sure most of them don’t enjoy the process of getting to the stadium hours early, walkthroughs, passing time thru the anticipation, etc.

Just wanted to second this really great point. Also, I think she's going to have a heck of a year...one for the ages, maybe.

Dalilah Muhammad is a classier woman. You never see her being arrogant.

So much self-important drama. JAYZUS....

The video direction was horrible. Too dark, overly cinematic in a sombre way, and portrayed her as isolated and nervous. The bathtub scene? Strange.

Some of what she said was very cool, interesting, and strong. Would have loved to see and hear from her more. But they used her as voiceover, over images that countered her strength. I don't like how she was portrayed at all.

And her husband seems overbearing. Telling her to move because it might attract attention? If that is what made the final cut you know its the tip of the iceberg.