Sydney McLaughlin-Lavrone Loved Her Husband’s Reaction to Her 400-Meter Worlds Win (Exclusive)

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone had the crowd going wild during her remarkable races at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, where she took home gold in two events.

Among them was arguably her biggest fan, husband Andre Levrone Jr., who went viral on social media for going wild as the track and field star ran a sub-48-second 400-meters — and made history — in the women’s 400-meters on Thursday, Sept. 18.

In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE after Worlds, McLaughlin-Lavrone, 26, opens up about the support of Andre while reflecting on the 47.78 seconds she ran to earn her first global title in the 400-meters and secure the second-fastest time in history.

“He’s such a huge support. There’s so much behind the scenes that he’s involved in and takes care of, especially on race days,” she tells PEOPLE exclusively of her husband, whom she wed in May 2022, nine months after getting engaged.

While McLaughlin-Lavrone is the one who’s out on the track by herself, she was sure to point out the circle of support she has around her outside of races.

“I think it looks like an individual sport, but it’s really a team sport,” she shares. “Just having his support has been one of the biggest difference-makers, I think, in the past two years of my career, so it’s always fun to watch his reactions.”

“You can see the football player in him come out because he’s just losing his mind,” she says of her former NFL wide receiver husband, who had contracts with the Baltimore Ravens, Carolina Panthers and Jacksonville Jaguars before retiring in 2020.

“But yeah, it’s really special to have him there in those moments,” she adds.

When reflecting on her record-breaking wins, McLaughlin-Lavrone — who took home gold in the women’s 400-meter and the 4×400-meter relay — tells PEOPLE that her recent successes haven’t yet sunk in since Tokyo, whether it be due to jet lag or her major career accomplishments.

“I’m feeling great… I don’t know if it’s the jet lag, but I don’t think it’s fully hit me yet of what the last week has looked like, but I’m sure as I sail into the off-season it’ll definitely sink in,” she says, looking back.

Taking on the 400 meters, specifically, was a switch for the track star, whose trademark event is the 400-meter hurdles. She is a two-time Olympic champion in the event and has broken her own world record numerous times.

McLaughlin-Lavrone first considered switching to the 400-meters in 2023 as a way to “challenge myself in a different way,” she says.

“I was really feeling like I was getting to a comfortable place in the hurdles where I just wanted to bring something new into the picture,” she continues. “I knew it was going to be a huge undertaking and it was definitely a challenging year learning this event.”

She concludes, “But I’m so grateful that we stuck with it and I made that decision.”

Prior to securing gold medal in the final, McLaughlin-Lavrone ran a history-making time in the semis by running a 48.29, which broke the 19-year-old American record of 48.70 seconds set in 2006 set by Sanya Richards-Ross.

“I was honestly shocked. I crossed the line and my first thought was like, ‘Oh no, I ran too fast!’ ” McLaughlin-Lavrone says of her semifinals feat. “At first I was definitely shocked, but more so in a great way. Confident.”

“So at first I was a little nervous that maybe I had spent too much energy,” the Olympian continues, adding, “But honestly even the next day I felt so strong and it felt very relaxed to where it made me excited for the final.”

As for what’s next after that history-making final, McLaughlin-Lavrone isn’t sure just yet.

“At the moment, I think just kind of enjoying this one,” she says. “I think there’s always something you could improve upon, whether that’s going back to the 400 hurdles to try to break 50 or trying again for this world record, or whatever it is, there’s always something we could focus on.”