This past Tuesday, former Manual student, Yared Nuguse, won the bronze medal for the 1500-meter race during the 2024 Paris Olympics, with a personal-best time of 3:27.80. Nuguse was only 0.01 seconds from winning a silver medal, outrun by Great Britains’ Josh Kerr with a time of 3:27.79.
The 1500-meter race is the fourth longest long-distance running event, with the longest being the 10,000-meter race. Prior to qualifying for the finals of the 1500-meter race, Nuguse placed first in his qualifying heat with a time of 3:31.72, almost 4 seconds slower than his time during the final.
While this is Nuguse’s second Olympic Games, he was not able to compete in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics because of a quad injury. This time, though, he walks away with his first Olympic medal and tons of support and enthusiasm from the city of Louisville, the University of Notre Dame and the On Athletics Club, where he competes professionally.
Nuguse’s career first began during his four years at Manual, where he excelled at cross country and track and field, as well as in the classroom. Nuguse won his first individual state championship title during his senior year and helped the Crimsons finish fourth overall in the 2016 cross country state championship at the same time, as well. In actuality, however, Nuguse was a player on Manual’s bowling team before his talent for running was noticed by one of Manual’s former PE coaches, Mick Motley. Motley referred him to Manual’s head cross country coach and assistant track and field coach, Tim Holman (Social Studies).
“Even when I got into it [running] in high school, that was 2014, I still didn’t care enough to watch the 2016 Olympics or thinking I’d be doing it in college or past college,” Nuguse said to People.
After graduating from Manual in 2017, Nuguse went on to run both cross country and track and field at the University of Notre Dame, where he made history. In 2019, he anchored Notre Dame’s distance medley relay team to a win during the NCAA D1 Indoor Track and Field Championships. He later ended up winning the 1500-meter race during the NCAA D1 Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
Then in May of 2021, Nuguse set the NCAA 1500-meter record. He also finished second in the 1500 meter race, qualifying for the 2021 Olympics. However, he was forced to sit on the sidelines due to an injury. However, that didn’t stop “The Goose,”–as he is affectionately known. A little under a year later in February of 2022, Nuguse broke the 18-year-old NCAA indoor 3000 meters record at the Boston University Valentine Invitational. He again anchored Notre Dame’s distance medley relay team that would help the Fighting Irish finish second place at the 2022 NCAA D1 Indoor Track and Field Championships.
Following his graduation from Notre Dame, he signed to compete professionally for On Athletics Club. From there, he took off, not only racking up medals but also setting national and world records. Besides winning an Olympic bronze medal, he most recently won the USA Indoor Track and Field Championships 3000-meter race, as well as the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships 3000-meter race. He also placed second in the 3000-meter race at the 2024 World Indoor Championships in Glasgow, Scotland.
While Nuguse placed third, fellow American runner Cole Hocker, placed first with a time of 3:27.65, setting an Olympic record, and marking the first time in 112 years that two Americans won an Olympic medal in the 1500-meter race.
Though favored to win, Nuguse was thrilled with the outcome of the race: “I’m just so happy to come away with bronze,” he said, responding to the press at Stade de France. “I feel like at that last 200[-meters] I was like . . . ‘It’s right in front of me and that was really just a moment of, you know, digging down really deep and just getting it done.’”
Being only 25 years old, Nuguse still has a bright future ahead. His relationship with running has been something the Louisville community has witnessed from the start and will more than likely be witnessed to the end.
