Kenneth Rooks just brought home a silver medal in the men’s 3000-meter steeplechase at the Paris Olympics. How’d he do it? Well, if you haven’t watched the race yet, go on NBC Sports’ YouTube channel, watch it, and then pick this podcast back up because he comes from the back of the pack to nearly pull off one of the biggest upsets in Olympic history. His final time of 8:06.41 shattered his personal best by an astounding nine seconds and makes him the second-fastest American ever in this event.

Kenneth’s past 14 months have been amazing. Just a year ago, he was relatively unknown on the international stage, but after winning the NCAA title, the U.S. Championships in dramatic fashion by falling and getting back up and now an Olympic silver, he’s shown the world what he’s capable of. We have at least two past episodes with Kenneth that you can go back and listen to.

In a race dominated by the likes of world record holder Lamecha Girma and defending Olympic champion Soufiane El Bakkali, Kenneth’s surge in the final lap put everyone on notice. He boldly took the lead with 400 meters to go, and although El Bakkali eventually reclaimed the top spot, Kenneth’s audacious run secured him a place in history.

It was one of the biggest surprises of the Games but Kenneth takes us through why he believes it was possible, the training it took to get there and why he believes he can go a little faster. He’s just 24 years old and just getting started.

Host: Chris Chavez | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@chris_j_chavez on Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Guest: Kenneth Rooks | ⁠⁠⁠@kenneth_rooks on Instagram

The following excerpt has been edited lightly for clarity. You can listen to the full interview with Kenneth Rooks on the CITIUS MAG Podcast – available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your shows.

CITIUS MAG: There wasn't anything that stood out at the Trials that was like, ‘You're going to be an 8:06 guy by the end of the Olympics.’

Kenneth Rooks: I definitely didn't feel like I hit my peak yet, although I was trying to peak a little bit to try and perform well at the Trials. But after the trials, my workouts just kept getting better. I knew getting ready for the Olympics I needed to be ready for 64s and 65s, which is around 8:06 pace. I just figured that there's enough guys out there; We might go out fast in the prelims or the finals and I need to be ready to hang at that pace. I went into the Trials with 8:15 as my personal best, but I knew that was not as fast as I could run. Even running that 8:15 race that day, it was like, ‘I could've ran faster if I just got out a little bit harder.’

CITIUS MAG: Did you have any major takeaways from the steeplechase prelim? We get so caught up in the final, but was there anything that stood out to you in the prelim?

Kenneth Rooks: I felt like my heat was one of the most competitive heats, just looking at it. Maybe that was just my opinion. I treated it like business. I just ran in control. I was in control of that whole prelim. It just gave me confidence that I was going to be fine, I was ready for whatever kind of situation happened there. I just took it as confidence, but I treated it a lot like business. I won the prelim last year, so I learned at Worlds last year that what happens in the prelim is good, it's exciting, but it doesn’t determine what happens in the final.

I was trying to be happy with that performance and how in control I felt with it, but also the focus was on the final. It was another race, it was a different race, just being grateful that I made it past that first round. Then in the final, it was like, ‘Okay, I can just let loose. There's nothing left. There's no reason to hold back anything.’

CITIUS MAG: At what point did you start thinking about going for a medal?

Kenneth Rooks: A phrase that I've said a lot and sometimes what my teammates will say is, ‘We race to win.’ When I said that, people took that as, ‘Kenneth is going to go for the gold.’ I did end up doing that in the race, but I think my mindset was not necessarily going for the gold 100%; It was, ‘Let's be focused on the process of just racing to the best of my ability.’ Coach and I, we talked about different scenarios that we might encounter in the race and different race plans to put myself in the best position to succeed, which basically is like, ‘Let's race this thing as if we're going to go out and try and win it…’

I closed in like 3:03 in the last 1200 meters at the Trials, so it was like if I have that kind of kick (at the Olympics), there is a chance that I could get a medal. So (I was) taking confidence in that; Not necessarily focusing as much on the medal, but focusing on the process of putting myself in position and then being curious (about) once I'm in that position to see if I can finish. That's the mindset and everything with our race plan.

CITIUS MAG: When you hit the front of the race, what does the sound of the bell do to you? Was it just adrenaline? What was going on internally that led you to fully sending it?

Kenneth Rooks: Going into the race, in preparation, I visualized and thought about multiple times where with a lap to go, I just took off regardless of where I was at and just gave it everything I had. I felt like I really had nothing to lose. It’s the Olympic final – the first time I'm even at the Olympics in the Olympic final, so let's just see what happens. As I was moving up and as we were getting close to a lap to go, I realized that to my left, El Bakkali was there and Girma was inside and they were at the front. So I was like, ‘They're inside and we're all still kind of packed up. No one's taking this thing.’

I like to take the lead in the steeplechase with a lap to go sometimes if I can. I was definitely feeling the adrenaline, feeling the crowd getting louder and everyone was getting excited because there was a lap to go. I was like, ‘Well, I'm just going to go for it. Why not?’ Then I just went up and took the lead… In my brain, I'm like, ‘Oh my gosh, I'm leading the Olympic final!’

Then I realized I was starting to open up a little bit of a gap and I'm like, ‘Oh my gosh, am I going to win?’ I probably was looking around way too much. But in my mind I was like, ‘Is this really happening right now? That’s what was going through my head. It was just adrenaline and just taking in the moment of, ‘Wow, this is incredible. Is this really happening?’ Then just trying to dig deep to finish the race. It was cool to come off that last water jump in the lead. I got passed by Girma and then we hit the last hurdle. I realized that it was just us three and that I was going to get a medal regardless of how I finished. But I wanted to fight as hard as I could, so I fought as hard as I could to get that silver.

CITIUS MAG: You cross the finish line. There's this look of shock. What are you thinking in that moment? The time pops up, which I’m sure was surprising. You got silver. There's so much to process.

Kenneth Rooks: There was so much to process in that moment. I think I was like, ‘Did that really just happen? Am I really the silver medalist?’ Then I saw the time up on the board. I knew that we were running under 8:15 pace the majority of the race, so I knew I was going to run a personal best. With how hard I closed at the end, it was also like, ‘I really closed that hard and ran 8:06?’ So that was going through my head, but more or less it was mostly like, ‘Did this really just happen?’

Time Stamps:

• 5:35 - Reflecting on his experience at the Olympics.
• 7:12 - The support he received from his family and the BYU community.
• 10:09 - His improvement between the U.S. Trials and the Olympics.
• 14:04 - What stood out most from the steeplechase prelim.
• 16:06 - When he shifted his mindset to going for a medal + his race plan.
• 19:41 - Rai Benjamin’s parting words to him before the final.
• 20:26 - Breaking down the bell lap of the final.
• 23:02 - “The Kenneth Rooks side-eye.”
• 27:15 - Reactions after finishing the steeplechase final.
• 30:05 - Coach Ed Eyestone’s reaction to him getting silver.
• 31:12 - How he celebrated after.
• 32:35 - What's next for him this season.

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