Nico Young over the weekend ran a 10k in record-setting fashion, further bolstering his chances of a spot at the Paris Summer Olympic Games.
The out gay athlete shattered the college record at The Ten in Southern California on Saturday. The record was previously held by Sam Chelanga of Liberty University, whose time of 27:08 had stood for 14 years.
Earlier this month, Young won NCAA National Championships in the 3k and 5k, running for Northern Arizona University.
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While he has the outdoor track and field season ahead, for Young the main focus will be earning that coveted spot at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
To qualify for a Team USA spot in the 10k at the Olympics, a runner must break the 27-minute mark, something a college runner in the United States had never done before.
The next hurdle for Young will be the Team USA Olympic Trials this summer in Eugene, Ore. He’ll need to finish in the top three of all the American runners who have run a sub-27-minute time in the 10k. So far, only three Americans have done that.
It will be interesting to see how much he competes in the NCAA outdoor track and field season with the Olympic Trials now looming so large.
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