Wednesday 17 August 2016

Meet the High School Runner Who Will Be the Youngest Track Athlete to Compete in the Olympics Since 1972

MMeet the High School Runner Who Will Be the Youngest Track Athlete to Compete in the Olympics Since 1972

BY CHAR ADAMS











 
07/12/2016 AT 11:55 AM EDT
Sydney McLaughlin almost didn't run the U.S. Olympic track and field trials.

Now, after setting a world junior record in the 400-meter hurdles, she'll be the youngest American track athlete to compete in an Olympics since 1972, theWall Street Journal reports.

"The first day, I got here and I had a nervous breakdown and I wasn't going to run because I was just so nervous," she told the Journal about the event in Oregon.

"[My coaches] pushed me through it, and now here I am. I am on the team, so I thank them for that."



On Sunday, McLaughlin finished in 54.15 seconds, landing her third place at the trials and securing her a spot at the Games in Rio de Janeiro, according toESPN.




The New Jersey native ran her first competitive track race when she was just 6 years old.

"I think sometimes I get caught up in the fact that I haven't lost a hurdle race, and then I come here and there are girls who are faster than me," she told ESPN. "I think just realizing that sometimes you have to lose in order to get better. It's a big thing for me."


When a 16 YEAR OLD makes the Rio trio! 👀women's 400m hurdles FINAL, full results:pic.twitter.com/pwTNeCDYeq
16 year-old Sydney McLaughlin's 54.15 in the women's 400mH is a new World Junior Record! 🌏🔥


A junior at Union Catholic High School in Scotch Plains, New Jersey, McLaughlin said she didn't experience much pressure heading in to the trials.

"Sometimes, I just forget that I'm 16," she told USA Today. "There's not as much expectation. You know, I don't get paid for this. I'm just here for fun."

Still, she ended the event just two spots behind Sunday's champion Dalilah Muhammad, who ran a 52.88, and one spot behind Ashley Spencer, who clocked in at 54.02.