A Chat with Nick Symmonds About His Career to Date and What’s Still to Come

Today I’m doing everything I can to keep up with two-time Olympian Nick Symmonds.

Nick Symmonds, Mid-Mountain

Nick made his on the international scene as an 800 meter runner, which some would label as the hardest event in a track meet. Nick isn’t so sure the 800 is the hardest, though it’s no picnic for sure.

Bursting Onto the Scene at the Prefontaine Classic

Nick ran the 800 and 1500 in college, but when he went pro he had to pick one distance and focus on it if he ever wanted to be truly elite.

He chose the 800, which obviously was the right choice, but his career got off to a rough start.

Nick struggle as a first year pro, which isn’t incredibly uncommon, and going into his first Prefonatine Classic he was the 14th qualifier of the 15 men in the 800m field.

No one was talking about Nick Symmonds before the race, but after his victory he had officially made a name for himself on both the national and world stage.

And at that moment, Nick knew he was going to be an Olympian.

Representing Team USA

The following year, Nick’s premonition came to bear: he won the US Olympic trials and would be heading to Beijing to represent the USA.

However, that wasn’t the first time he got to wear the red, white, and blue at an international competition.

The year before he had the opportunity to go to Europe and run a couple of races, which he wasn’t sure he wanted to do, until he found out he would be doing so for Team USA.

The moment that his Team USA gear came in the mail, and the impromptu photo shoot that took place once the package arrived, was something that he’ll never forget.

As for Nick’s Olympic experiences, 2008 was rough as he failed to make it out of the semi-finals.

In 2012 in London, Nick ran a time that would have placed him on the podium in every single Olympic Games ever, yet on that day and in that moment it was only good enough for 5th place.

Obviously, that was a tough pill to swallow. But as time has passed, Nick can appreciate that he ran the race of his life at the Olympics, and that’s all any Olympian could hope for.

While Nick missed out on a shot at making a 3rd Olympic Team in 2016 due to injury, Nick is working to take one more shot to represent Team USA at the World Championships in 2017.

Scratching the Entrepreneurial Itch

When Nick was sidelined with the injury that kept him out of the Trials in 2016, Nick and his business partner really doubled down on a business they had been working on for a few years: Run Gum.

Nick is now splitting his focus between his rehab and return to competition in preparation for the 2017 season while also wearing the hat of CEO for his company.

It’s a difficult balance for sure, but at this point of his career he really enjoys the challenge of doing both (and doing them both well).

And in fact, the added structure of Nick’s entrepreneurial responsibilities may actually help him with his running career as well.

If you haven’t had the chance to check out Nick’s website, it’s definitely worth taking a few minutes and clicking around to see what he’s got going on. And you can definitely connect with and say hi to Nick on Twitter and/or Instagram.

Chatting with @nicksymmonds about his career to date and what his future holds, both on and off the track. #runchat Click To Tweet

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