June 21 update: Young qualified for the Paris Olympics after placing third in the 10,000 meters at the U.S. Trials in 27:52.40.
Nico Young didn’t always race with the confidence he has now.
Even as he set records at Newbury Park High School in California, Young often went into competitions afraid. If the result weren’t exactly what he wanted, he didn’t think the effort was worth appreciating.
When Young, 21, races today, he’s a different athlete. He’s poised. His tactics reflect his years of experience at the front of the pack. And win or lose, he finds things to celebrate. His running performances no longer define him. “Now, I approach things where the validation and confidence is coming from me, who I am, and liking myself, rather than just a race outcome,” Young said.
In his final season competing for Northern Arizona University (NAU), the results reflected that peace. In January, he knocked more than 6 seconds off the collegiate record in the indoor 5,000 meters, running 12:57.14.
In March, he twice stood atop the podium at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, winning the 3,000 and 5,000 meters, his first individual collegiate titles after years of near-misses.
His parents, Lynne and Andrew Young, almost didn’t travel to Boston for the meet, but they changed their plans at the last minute. “I thought to myself, ‘What if this is the meet where he wins his first NCAA title, and I’m not there?’” Lynne said. “We went, and oh my gosh, we were rewarded with two NCAA titles.”
A week later, he obliterated the collegiate record in the 10,000 meters, running 26:52.72 at the TEN in San Juan Capistrano, California. It was his first attempt at the distance, and he moved to third on the U.S. all-time list, making him one of the favorites for the event on June 21 at the Olympic Trials.
In the days leading up to the Trials, with his career at NAU behind him, Young (who had an NIL deal with Adidas during college) had signed with an agent and was working out details for a shoe company endorsement. He will continue to live in Flagstaff, Arizona, and be coached by NAU head coach Mike Smith. Smith’s growing group of professional runners already includes NAU alumni Abdihamid Nur and Luis Grijalva, and Tokyo Olympian Woody Kincaid.
Early signs
Young was five years old when he was introduced to track and field. As Lynne remembered it, the idea came up when they were watching the kids and their friends run around the backyard together. “He was sprinting around like a madman,” Lynne said. “My friend looks at me, and she’s like, ‘You should really get him into track.’”
Growing up in Camarillo, a suburb about an hour north of Los Angeles, Young joined a local youth track team. He also played soccer and water polo. Going into his freshman year of high school in 2016, he knew he wanted to focus on long-distance running. He liked being in control of his results, while also enjoying his friends on the team.
As Young became more involved in running, his parents and younger twin brothers, Lex and Leo, were also inspired to pick up the sport.
Young’s first year at Newbury Park High School coincided with Sean Brosnan’s first year as head coach of the cross-country and track program. Brosnan remembered meeting Young when he was a 5-foot-1 shy kid with a decent middle-school mile time of 5:05. It didn’t take long for Brosnan to see the ultra-competitive teenager, who always came to him with training questions, as what he calls “a generational talent.”
During his sophomore year, Young broke the school record in the 3200 meters, running 9:05. A couple of weeks later, he placed 15th at the California state track meet, the most elite state meet in the country.
From his junior year on, Young was nearly unbeatable. In 2019, he won Nike Cross Nationals (one of the top prep championships in the country), repeated as the California cross-country champion, and won the state title in the 3200 meters. He also broke a national high school record in the indoor 3K, running 7:56.97 against professionals and collegians at the 2020 Millrose Games. At meets, fellow competitors would line up to take selfies with the fastest runner in the country.
At the same time, Young and his younger brothers, Lex and Leo (who now run for Stanford), helped transform Newbury Park into a national powerhouse. Before the team achieved the fastest 5K average in high school history, the squad hadn’t qualified for the state meet in more than 25 years.
Looking back on his former program (Brosnan left his coaching role at Newbury Park in 2022), he credits Young for setting the tone for the work ethic within the team.
“Nico is a leader by example,” Brosnan said. “He’s not a super vocal person, like he won’t scream to get the team motivated. He’s quiet, but he’s very curious about how he can be the best ever. Him putting the work in, people saw his success and looked up to him.”
Managing high expectations
The pandemic cut Young’s senior track season short, and he and other high school athletes tried to cobble together competition through time trials and small group runs. In the spring of 2020, he graduated from Newbury Park as the valedictorian in a virtual ceremony.
That fall, Young started his freshman year with Zoom classes. The NAU squad met for practice, but it took longer than usual to build connections with COVID restrictions.
Making matters worse, Young suffered his first major injury during the first few weeks of college. He tore a muscle near his glute, which forced him to take five weeks off from running. The setback, coupled with the added pressure of coming in as the top recruit in the nation, made for a difficult arrival.
“I think anyone who's successful coming out of high school is scared of fulfilling the narrative that people like to create, that you're not going to improve in college,” Young said. “So even if I didn't consciously think that that was going to happen, I was definitely scared. I had a lot that I felt like I needed to show people. It was unhealthy to think that way, and I had to reframe that.”
By late October 2020, Young was back to training. In early December, he returned to racing with a 13:44 personal best in the 5,000 meters at The Track Meet in San Juan Capistrano, California, one of the few track competitions that happened that year. The performance was the confidence boost Young needed at the time.
Three months later, at the pandemic-delayed 2021 NCAA Cross-Country Championships, Young finished fourth overall, leading NAU to its fourth team title in five years. Later that summer, he finished ninth in the 5,000 meters at the 2021 Olympic Trials, his first national championship.
Being authentic
While Young was building momentum on the track, he also took a step forward in his personal life. In the fall of 2021, the cross-country team gathered for the squad’s annual pre-season campfire. While sitting together in a circle, each teammate shared an individual goal, team goal, and anything else they wanted to bring up. When it came time for Young to speak, he decided to come out as gay to his teammates.
Santiago Gomez-Prosser remembered feeling immensely proud of his teammate at that moment. “That was very brave of him,” Gomez-Prosser said, adding that Young’s consistent support helped the squad become closer and more accepting over the years. “It also opens it up for anybody to say anything that is personal,” Gomez-Prosser said.
For Young, coming out, first to his family and friends and then publicly on Instagram a year later, helped him gain a deeper sense of confidence and self-acceptance after spending years seeking acceptance through running.
“In high school, I thought people liked me because of how good I am at this sport,” Young said. “Why should I give them a reason to not like me by sharing this part of me? I think that mindset caused a lot of damage later on, because my running success filled the hole of my identity, when I should have been getting affirmation for the person that I am.”
Coming out helped him separate his identity from his running performances, which lessened the pressure he felt before races. He no longer had to seek as much validation through running. “Running is something that I do that is a product of who I am,” he said. “It’s not who I am.”
These days, Young still gets approached for selfies. But it’s usually for something he’s more proud of than his latest track race. People tell Young he has motivated them by being open and advocating for the queer community. “It means a lot to me,” Young said. “I hoped to be a voice for people who are struggling.”
Heading into a pro career
In the past year, Young has been working on his closing speed, something that’s required for success in the pro ranks. On May 4, he took more than three seconds off his 1500-meter best when he ran 3:34.56 in Los Angeles.
Plus, building on years of consistency with his coach has clearly made a difference. The track community got a sneak peak of his fitness in a workout in January. Filmed by Track All-Access, Young crushed a grueling session of 400/2K/4 x 400/800 at 7,000 feet of elevation inside NAU’s indoor track facility.
After Young split a blazing 53.9 seconds for the first 400 meters and 5:17 for the 2K interval (4:15 mile pace, which converts to 4:05 at sea level), Smith said, “He shouldn’t be able to do that. His engine is incredible.”
At the Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon, Young is entered in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters. The 10K comes first, and his time from March is the second-fastest in the field, behind only American record-holder Grant Fisher. If Young finishes in the top three, he will make the Olympic team. In the 5,000 meters, Young has the third-fastest entry time. Heats begin on June 27.
While his speed has put Young in a great position to make his first Olympic team, the biggest shift has come from within. Now, he’s also prioritizing his happiness outside of running by spending more time with those who support him regardless of race outcomes.
When he competes next at Hayward Field, it’ll be in a way that’s authentic to him. “I want to race my hardest and compete to win,” Young said. “For me, [being authentic] means doing what I feel like I’m always able to do, and that is to give my best in the race no matter how it goes. That's what I’m looking forward to.”
Taylor Dutch is a writer and editor living in Austin, Texas, and a former NCAA track athlete who specializes in fitness, wellness, and endurance sports coverage. Her work has appeared in Runner’s World, SELF, Bicycling, Outside, and Podium Runner.
