2024 US Olympic marathon trials: the lasting bond between favorites Conner Mantz and Clayton Young
The two athletes race in the US Olympic Team Trials Marathon on 3 February with their selection to the US team for Paris 2024 on the line. However, this is far from the first time they have lined up to race together with the Utah natives’ careers having dovetailed along with their Paris 2024 dreams.
When Conner Mantz crossed the finish line of the 2023 Chicago Marathon, one of the first things he did was turn around to look for Clayton Young.
Mantz had just finished the race in 2:07:47, the fifth fastest time ever by an American and a mark that handily beat the Olympic qualifying standard for the marathon.
After such an achievement, you would probably have expected him to be celebrating wildly.
Instead, his focus immediately turned to Young, who was racing with the same goal in mind - to edge one step closer to a place on the starting line of Paris 2024.
“I turned around and could see Clayton finishing, and I was like yes, finally,” he told Runners World, looking back on the moment both runner’s Olympic dreams became that much closer to reality.
Young’s time of 2:08:00 saw him hit the Paris qualification standard almost right on the button, meaning that he and Mantz would both be assured that a top-three finish at the upcoming Olympic marathon trials in Orlando (3 February) would see them selected for the US marathon team for the Games in France.
And while they may be rivals in that race, the friendship they have developed that sees them rooting for each other even when competing, has been long in the making.
Utah’s finest vying for the same Olympic dream
While the 30-year-old Young is three years older than Mantz, their two athletics careers have crossed paths on many occasions going all the way back to their college days.
Both hail from Utah, both are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and both attended the same higher education institution together – Brigham Young University.
At first, Young acted as a mentor to Mantz, giving him advice on how to progress as an up-and-coming runner with hopes of making it big in the sport.
“He loves to just lay it all out, both in races and in practice. And so it was kind of this delicate dance of giving Conner the green light and not holding him back,” reflected Young of their early days training together.
However, after the two turned from track and cross-country running to the gruelling world of the marathon, the relationship developed into one of peers who have pushed each other to greater heights on their journey to the top of American marathon running.
Even in the weeks leading up to the trials, the two have met with their university coach Ed Eyestone to talk race strategy that will, if all goes to plan, see them both book a place on the plane to Paris.
“They’re the two best guys in the country, and I hope they are able to demonstrate that Saturday,” Eyestone told deseret.com. “Now we’re just hoping everything falls into place — that they navigate all the things that can adversely affect them during the race. Now it’s how their bodies respond, do they run smart and respond correctly to the strategies that other racers might throw at them.”
Young and Mantz aim high in race where anything could happen
Of course, hitting the Olympic standard will mean nothing to Young and Mantz if they fail to make the podium in Saturday’s Olympic trials.
In the all-or-nothing world of the American trial season, only the best on the day get the chance to represent Team USA and, in this case, that means only a top-three finish will see either of the pair make the Paris starting line - even though the two are the only American males to have achieved the Olympic entry time.
As the fastest qualifier in the field, Mantz is confident he will have what it takes to achieve victory, even as he’s acutely aware that in a single high-stakes race like this, winning isn’t all that matters.
“I’m going to compete to win — but I also understand that if it doesn’t happen I need to keep things in perspective,” he said. “It’s a lot of pressure, but also an exciting time. You never know what’s going to happen.”
For Young, those vital training strategies - created in tandem with Mantz - that saw him pull off the race of his life in Chicago, are what he’s hoping can take him all the way to Paris.
“If I can replicate Chicago, I’ll have a fantastic shot,” he said. “We modeled our training block after Chicago’s training block, and it’s been just as good or better. Things are turning in the right direction.”
And if either Young or Mantz crosses the line first at the trials in Orlando, you can be confident that before their celebrations are even over, they will glance back to the finish line to see whether their long-term friend and training partner has also fulfilled his Olympic dream.