‘Better together:’ How friendship and faith helped guide these two US marathon runners to Paris 2024

Sport 13 March, 2024 15:40

In many ways, Conner Mantz and Clayton Young are typical friends.

They have known each other for years, live just a short drive from each other in Utah and spend a lot of time together. Mantz and his wife have occasionally stepped in for baby-sitting duties and Young once helped paint his friend’s house.

But this friendship has an added level of complexity – Mantz and Young are two of the best marathon runners in the US and race against one another.

During an emotional Olympic trials race in February, they worked together to make that ambition a reality.

The pair finished first and second at the Florida event to stamp their tickets to Paris 2024. Young, who had looked the fresher of the two on the final stretch, seemingly gave up his lead to Mantz as the pair were separated by just one second, both achieving a life-long dream in the process.

“There’s this wave of emotion that comes over you and you’re like, ‘Oh yeah, that’s right. I did make the Olympic team. I’m an Olympian.’”

Mantz says the achievement has taken a while to settle in but has slowly become more “normal” now that the training partners have started their preparations for Paris 2024.

“It’s kind of unbelievable because you never know who’s going to be good,” the 27-year-old Mantz, who is three years younger than his friend, tells CNN Sport when reflecting on what they achieved at the Olympic trials.

“Yes, we were the number one and number two seeds heading into the [race], but in athletics, everything is a lot more complicated than that. You can be the number one seed and you not make the final [selection].

“So it was just special that it happened together. We’ve trained together for almost seven years and we’ve actually had our goals and dreams accomplished.”

The pair estimate they’ve run well over 10,000 miles together over the years, since meeting at Brigham Young University (BYU) in 2017.

Both agree that experiencing that same journey has offered each of them a deeper level of support, be it on a physical or mental level.

“We’re able to learn from one another when we’re not running, and then when we are running, we’re able to push each other,” says Mantz, whose personal best for the marathon is two hours, seven minutes and 47 seconds.

Young agrees, adding: “I think about standing on the starting line in Paris. I’m going to be standing next to [Mantz] again and just having the confidence that I’ve trained with one of the best athletes in the world, will give me a lot of confidence knowing that I belong.

“If I can stick with him in practice, I can stick with him, hopefully, in Paris. That gives me a lot of confidence.”

Make no mistake, though, both these men are fiercely competitive and are aware there might come a time where they have to put their friendship aside in order to claim personal glory – and for their country.