Choosing College Life Over Going Pro

If you haven’t heard of Sydney McLaughlin, here’s your chance to hear about a young sports star, who turned down the Pro title. In 2016, at only the age of 16 she was running on the U.S Olympic team. No one this young since the 80s has ran for the team. Last June she became a big name on social media for breaking a national high school record of a 49.85 second 400-meter relay split. All while this was happening she decided to pass up “going pro” and earning a very high salary to go to college. She will be attending the University of Kentucky where she will be running, training for the 2020 Olympics, and having a college life. She told Bleacher Report that she “wanted the experience of being a college kid, to talk on a campus, live on my own, get experiences to mature as a person and in the sport.” Even though she is being a college kid and attending parties and opening up with new people and making friends, her main goal is Tokyo. Her coach and herself will be training every minute they can in order to get her ready for the next Olympics. This is truly a tale of following your dreams and in doing that having to make that big decision of wether or not to be a teenager in the pro track and field life. Keep your eyes and ears out for the name Sydney McLaughlin, who might become the next big running star.