Olympic Gold medal winner Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone the pride of Union Catholic High School in Scotch Plains, N.J.

N.J. high school honors alumna Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone after Olympics victory

SCOTCH PLAINS, N.J. - New Jersey native Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone won gold at the Paris Olympics. 

She's the pride of Union Catholic High School in Scotch Plains, and is honored in the school's "Tradition Meets Tomorrow" hallway. 

"This is set up in honor of Sydney and all of her accomplishments," Sister Percylee Hart, the school's principal, said. "So our challenge now is to update it. What a wonderful challenge to have." 

Gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone of Team USA poses for a photo with the USA flag after the Women's 400m Hurdles Final on day thirteen of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Stade de France on August 08, 2024 in Paris, France. Patrick Khachfe/Getty Images

There are a lot of accomplishments. McLaughlin-Levrone is now a three-time gold medal winner, after Thursday's win in the women's 400-meter hurdles, when she broke her own previous world record. It was the sixth time she had set a world record for the 400-meter hurdles. She took home two gold medals in Tokyo, and she was a junior at Union Catholic when she competed in the Olympics for the first time in Rio in 2016. 

The school held two watch parties for the Union Catholic community to watch McLaughlin-Levrone compete.   

Gold medallist US' Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone celebrates on the podium during the victory ceremony for the women's 400m hurdles athletics event during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Stade de France in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, on August 9, 2024. ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT/AFP via Getty Images

"It's not the gold. It's beyond gold."

She ran from the school corridors to Gatorade labels to Olympic gold.   

"Sydney ran on these corridors. And she made it to the Olympics as a 17-year-old. To me, that's just absolutely awesome. And what a role model she is for our students," Hart said. 

Hart says McLaughlin-Levrone is an even better person than she is an athlete. 

"And that's what makes her a superstar. It's not the gold. It's beyond gold. Her character and her humility," Hart said. 

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