The Race Before Her

For this Olympic champion, success bred her greatest fear. How five verses set her free

- SYDNEY MCLAUGHLIN-LEVRONE

See me poised in the starting blocks of the 400-meter hurdles, and you might think I have nerves of steel. After all, I'm the women's world-record holder in the event and the 2021 Olympic gold medalist. But I'm far from unflappable. In fact, for most of my life, I was driven by fear. Fear of failure, of not living up to people's expectations.

I defined myself by my athletic accomplishments. Nothing about me mattered if I wasn't winning a race. It wasn't until I suffered crushing defeats on and off the track that I turned to the only One greater than my problems, greater than my fear, and discovered my truest identity, the title that means the most: daughter of God.

Do you ever feel as if you're being chased by fear and anxiety? I'd like to share some lessons I've learned in my faith journey, lessons I've framed through verses from Proverbs. I hope they will help bring you the peace, freedom and joy they've brought me.

LESSON 1: "The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe." (Proverbs 29:25)

I grew up in Dunellen, New Jersey, a suburb 30 miles from New York City. Both of my parents ran track, but they never pressured me. From an early age, I loved to run.

Then I began competing, and something else took hold of me. A need not just to run but to win. On the way to a race when I was seven, I told my dad I was terrified of losing.

"If that happens," he said calmly, "we'll get some food and go home."

His message didn't sink in. The more I raced, the more I won. And the more I won, the more fear took over.

What if I didn't win the next time? Junior year of high school, I ran so well, I made it to the 2016 U.S. Olympic trials in Eugene, Oregon. Before my first heat, I looked at the runners warming up around me. They were confident women with well-designed race strategies. I was a timid 16-yearold girl. I'd never felt so undeserving.

I was so scared, I called my dad.