When Michael Johnson announced Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone as the first athlete signed to his bold new Grand Slam Track League in 2025, it felt like a power move.
Since then, Sydney hasn’t disappointed on the track. She’s dominated the opening meets of the league’s debut season, sweeping both the 400m hurdles and the flat 400m in Kingston and Miami. Two meets, two Slam titles, $200k in prize money, and a performance level that’s been nothing short of generational.
But while McLaughlin-Levrone is the face of this fresh era in track and field, there’s a growing conversation about her role away from the track.
The FitzDunk Perspective
Fitzroy Junior Dunkley, a Rio 2016 Olympic silver medalist and outspoken athlete advocate known as FitzDunk on X (formerly Twitter), recently posed a tough but fair question: Why hasn’t Sydney been louder online for the league she headlines?
“Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone is Grand Slam’s most prominent athlete,” FitzDunk wrote.
“She was the first athlete introduced when the league announced its formation. In 2025, she has only posted 5 times about the Grand Slam on her Instagram to her 1.5 million followers.”
Dunkley’s point is about influence, not performance. The league has posted clips, teased behind-the-scenes content, and built marketing material centered around Sydney. But much of it hasn’t landed on her page, and in the social media age, where a message lives matters.
“Think about this like the NBA,” Dunkley explained.
“Would it make sense for LeBron James to skip posting about opening night, the All-Star Game, or the Finals? Of course not. His audience amplifies the league’s story. It makes the event feel bigger.”
The Modern Fan Craves Access
Today’s sports fans want more than medals and race results. They crave personality, insight, and connection, not just through league accounts or media coverage, but directly from the athletes they admire.
As FitzDunk puts it, “The league can’t carry her brand. It’s about alignment: 🎯📲🚀. Sydney isn’t just a superstar, she’s a cultural icon. Grand Slam has a generational opportunity here. Help her tell her story on her terms, but make sure it’s seen where it matters — on her platforms.”
But Sydney’s Always Done It Differently
To be fair, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone has never fit the mold of the hyper-online modern athlete. Despite her 1.5 million Instagram followers, she’s notoriously measured with her posts around 110 total as of May 2025, averaging two posts every couple of weeks.
In her memoir Far Beyond Gold: Running from Fear to Faith, Sydney revealed that ahead of the 2016 Olympic Trials, she completely deleted her social media accounts to escape the pressure.
“What used to be a place where I connected with friends had become a source of turmoil,” she wrote.
When she returned, it was on her own terms. Her Instagram isn’t a flood of race-day selfies or endless reels. It’s curated highlights, thoughtful reflections, and carefully chosen moments that matter to her.
Which makes this situation tricky. Sydney has built a brand on authenticity and boundaries, and perhaps that’s what fans love most about her. But for a league built around disrupting tradition and connecting sport to culture, her limited online engagement leaves a gap no league account can fill.
The Opportunity Ahead
None of this is about forcing Sydney to become an influencer. It’s about meeting this cultural moment with intentionality. Grand Slam Track doesn’t just need Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone to win races. It needs her voice. Her perspective. Her behind-the-scenes moments. Even if it’s just a handful of extra posts per season, placed where her followers live.
Because when the sport’s biggest star speaks, people listen. And in a league trying to rewrite the playbook for track and field’s future, those moments of connection could mean the difference between niche success and cultural phenomenon.
