Willie McLaughlin – Father of The Olympic Winner Sydney McLaughlin
Willie McLaughlin is a proud father of the first woman, Sydney McLaughlin who broke the record of 52 seconds at the 2020 USA Olympics trials. She is both a winner and a gold medalist in Olympics.
There’s a proverb that the apple drops off the apple tree. Similarly, Runners produce runners. Seems funny, but it’s true!
Willie McLaughlin was the first one in the family to qualify for the Olympics. His footprints were followed by her daughter Sydney.
It would be unfair if we only discuss the daddy-princess duo. There is not one, not two, but all the McLaughlins are runners.
Willie’s Early Life
Willie, the Athlete, came to this world on 13th February 1963, and currently, he is 59 years old. According to his Zodiac sign, he is a Pieces.
The young athlete was born in the United States of America, Dunellen with black ethnicity and he follows Christianity. He was brought up in the loving hands of his parents.
Willie studied at Orange High School, East Orange, Essex County, New Jersey, United States. He was not very efficient at academics and always remained an average student. According to some resources, he has also not completed his graduation.
But in his case studies aren’t so important if you are skillful.
Willie McLaughlin’s Wife – Mary Neumeister McLaughlin
The runner met a girl, Mary Neumeister, at Manhattan College on a field. They saw the same spark in each other, not the spark of love for each other, but the spark was to become athletes.
Yes! Both of them share the same dream of being sprinters and hurdlers. In their relationship, they skipped the part of running behind each other. They only ran on tracks.
Well, they dated for almost five years and then married without wasting any further time. The couple has many things in common, like the same ethnicity, same birthplace, and similar nationalities, Irish and Australian.
Mary studied at Union Catholic Regional High School and was trained by the famous Calvin H Walker. Her school appointed Calvin to train the boy’s team, but her passion forced Calvin to train her too. She was more passionate than all the boys on the team.
But she only remained a low-level runner and couldn’t run on bigger platforms like the Olympics. She also competed with the boys’ runners in her school.
Unlike Willie, she was good at her academics. Poor Mary failed to achieve her goal of becoming a professional runner due to a lack of opportunities for female runners at that time.
She calmed her running passion by managing the boys’ Sports team and helped other young athletes to achieve their goals.
She said,
O’Hara didn’t have a girls team when I was there. I was doing summer track before I ever got to O’Hara, so it was just a natural thing for me to run on the boys team. I think the year before I got there, there were a couple of girls on the team, so I wasn’t the first.
Redounds
The couple is in such an everlasting love that they still love each other. They stand behind each other’s back and are still living a happily married life with their grown-up babies.
Mary has not only been a speedy runner, but she is also a beautiful wife and an efficient mother. She raised four young runners and supported their passion as well.
His Family Of Athletes
Mommy Mary also wanted to be a professional runner, but she couldn’t, yet she was capable of running half a mile in 2:12 seconds. Willie qualified for the 1984 Olympics trial, a 400-meter run for America. He also competed in High school, Inter-School and returned as a semi-finalist in the field.
The couple and their next generation also turned out to be great runners. Defining the McLaughlin’s in a single liner, Athletes, when marrying athletes, produce athletes only. The Athlete couple raised four beautiful little runners. Morgan, Taylor, Sydney, and Ryan McLaughlin.
Their elder daughter Morgan McLaughlin studied at Union Catholic Regional High School. She also ran at school and then for her University. But she has changed her field to art and indulged herself in it.
His eldest boy, Taylor McLaughlin, holds a master’s degree in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering in Dynamics. He is into researching robots but he is also a great runner and sprinter and has won NCCA Division Outdoor Championship. This guy also owns first place in the Big Ten Championship.
His Famous daughter Sydney Michelle McLaughlin was born on 7th August 1999. She is a professional sprinter who has expertise in 400 m races. Sydney has set the record for the 400-meter hurdles with 55.63 seconds.
His Youngest one, Ryan, is also no less than any other. He has been in this world since 2001 and has already run a number of Tracks. Recently, he took part in the $x400 meters relay and 400m hurdles. Unfortunately, the boy didn’t succeed but also didn’t lose hope.
Usually, people follow elders’ footsteps, but the McLaughlins run on elders’ footsteps.
Willies’ Son-In-Law
Willie McLauglin’s daughter Sydney McLaughlin, a track star, tied the knot with Andre Levrone. The guy was also a sports lover but later he left his passion for sports to become a successful project manager in real estate. He played football as a wide receiver for Baltimore.
Andre, who graduated from the University of Virginia in 2017, started his gaming career in 2018 with the Baltimore Ravens on a contract basis as a professional player. Prior to that, he played for the UVA football team as a Wide Runner.
Willies’ Heart Disease
Willie has been playing and running since high school. He is a runner who never ran away from his dream. The dad not only had to struggle for his dream, but his genetic heart disorder was also a phase he had to face.
The sports guy, Willie, was born with an inborn genetic disease, Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. Running was his passion, but it also turned out to be his angel. Willie didn’t know all about this disease at a young age.
He never felt any unusual pain. The retired runner got to know about this disease in the late 1980s. At that time, Willie wasn’t in form. Willie passed through it because of his running habits.
According to Willie, the doctors said that it could not be cured and that he had to live with it, as nothing could be done.
His brother was also suffering from the same disease. When Willie was being tested heavily, he got to know that his brother had also died from the same disease.
Also, during this time, my brother underwent a heart transplant, due to HCM. Sadly, he passed away a few months later, due to complications.”
4hcm.org
The dad, Willie, met a doctor at his brother’s funeral, who told him that he had to get a new heart. That doctor guided him to take ICD Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator.
Finally, the guy got his heart replaced some months prior to her daughter’s Tokyo Olympics. People thought they were avoiding huge gatherings due to COVID-19. But it was not the case; they avoided it on doctors’ prescriptions.
The mom and dad of the Gold Medalist Sydney were not there in the stadium. They watched her running while lying on the couch. The couple rejected all the services and the kind gesture of the promotors.
Willie McLaughlin Net Worth
McLaughlin’s net worth is estimated at about $6 to $9 million. In contrast, Willies alone has a fortune of $3 to $6 million. The family had recently faced Willie’s severe health issues, yet they stood strong by his side.
Willie has a fortune of his pride in having such talented and uprising children and a loving wife. The family of McLaughlin is very passionate and hardworking. To own prestige and respect in society is the biggest fortune.
Final Thought
One can learn a number of lessons from the McLaughlins. Their love for family is beyond anything else. They always have each other’s back and are always there to support their decision.
Willie always stood beside his family during hard days, even being a heart patient. He never loses hope in any condition, and this same thing traveled down to his children, who also supported their dad and made him proud. Mary also stayed with her husband during his illness and helped him to recover soon.