Yared Nuguse made his dream come true in Paris on Tuesday. The American runner, who missed out on the Tokyo Olympics due to injury, finally earned an Olympic medal with an epic performance in the 1500-meter race.
Nuguse, who appeared to be falling back during the race, found another gear in the final stretch and took home the bronze. The former Louisville state champion finished with a 3:27.80, the ninth fastest time in the history of the men’s 1500-meter race, per On3.
Indianapolis native Cole Hocker took gold, and they made history, making it the first time in 112 years two Americans medaled in the 1500 at the Olympics.
Nuguse’s running journey started at duPont Manual High School in Louisville. His P.E. teacher at that time saw him running the mile for class and encouraged him to compete for the school.
“He saw that I would run pretty fast,” Nuguse told WDRB. “Usually just, like, get to the McDonald’s first for a post-run treat.”
The young runner initially turned down the opportunity. But the minute he changed his mind, he became unstoppable: Nuguse continued his career at Notre Dame and started to believe that he could be an Olympic athlete. But he was devastated when injury prevented him from competing in Tokyo.
“In Tokyo, I was a lot younger,” Nuguse told reporters on Tuesday, per the Courier Journal. “Getting that taken away from me stung for a long time. I know I’m strong enough to be up there with the best. It’s such a huge moment of redemption for me.”
Nuguse was largely overlooked in Tuesday’s 1500-meter race, which many believed would come down to Norwegian’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Great Britain’s Josh Kerr.
“I’d say I was overlooked,” Nuguse said. “I’m sure Cole was even more overlooked than me but it’s not like a bad thing, it’s more like an underdog kind of story.”
