Nick Symmonds facts for kids
Symmonds in 2011
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||
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| Nationality | American | |||||||||||||
| Born | 30 December 1983 Blytheville, Arkansas, United States |
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| Height | 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 m) | |||||||||||||
| Weight | 185 pounds (84 kg) | |||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics (middle-distance running) | |||||||||||||
| College team | Willamette University | |||||||||||||
| Club | Brooks | |||||||||||||
| Turned pro | 2006 | |||||||||||||
| Coached by | Danny Mackey Sam Lapray |
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| Retired | 2018 | |||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | ||||||||||||||
| Personal best(s) | *All information from athlete's World Athletics profile unless otherwise noted.
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Medal record
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Nicholas Boone Symmonds (born December 30, 1983) is an American athlete. He is a retired middle-distance runner from Boise, Idaho. He was best known for racing in the 800 meters and 1500 meters.
While at Willamette University, Nick won seven national college titles. He also became a 6-time US national champion in the 800 meters. He competed in the 800m at two Olympic Games. He reached the semi-finals in Beijing 2008. In London 2012, he finished fifth in the final. He ran his fastest time ever, 1:42.95. The next year, he won a silver medal in the 800 meters at the 2013 World Championships.
Nick Symmonds signed with Brooks Running in January 2014. Before that, he was sponsored by Nike for seven years. In October 2014, Nick and his coach, Sam Lapray, started a company called Run Gum. It sells chewing gum with supplements.
After he stopped running professionally, Nick became very popular on YouTube in 2020. His channel mainly focuses on running, powerlifting, and fitness. He is also working on climbing the Seven Summits. These are the highest mountains on each continent.
Contents
Early Life and School
Nick Symmonds was born on December 30, 1983. This was in Blytheville, Arkansas. When he was three, his family moved to Boise, Idaho. His father, Jeffrey Symmonds, is a surgeon. His mother, Andrea, is a teacher.
Nick grew up in Boise. He graduated from Bishop Kelly High School in 2002. He loved being outdoors. He earned his Eagle Scout award in high school. In high school, he won state championships in several running events. These included the 800 meters, 1600 meters, 3200 meters, and the 4 × 400 m relay.
He chose Willamette University in Salem, Oregon. This was even though other schools offered him sports scholarships. Willamette is an NCAA Division III school. Nick earned a degree in biochemistry in 2006. He was also a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity.
Running Career Highlights
College Running Success
While at Willamette University, Nick was an amazing runner. He won the 800m NCAA championship race all four years. He also won the 1500m NCAA championship race three times.
Nick's fastest 800m time in college was 1:45.83. This is still the fastest time in NCAA Division III history. His best 1500m time was 3:40.91. This ranks him third all-time in NCAA Division III.
Professional Running Journey
After college, Nick joined the Oregon Track Club Elite. In 2006, he was the runner-up in the 800m race at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. In 2007, he won the 800m race at the Prefontaine Classic meet. He ran his personal best time of 1:44.54.
In 2008, Nick won the United States Olympic Trials 800m final. This was in Eugene, Oregon. He ran a personal best time of 1:44.10. This win qualified him for the U.S. Olympic Team for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. At the Beijing Olympics, Nick won his first race. But he finished fifth in his semifinal race and did not qualify for the final.
Nick continued to improve in 2009. He won the USATF Championships. This meant he would represent the United States at the World Championships. He ran his fastest time of 1:43.83 in Monaco. A few weeks later, he was the first American since 1997 to reach the 800m final. He finished sixth. In 2010, he ran even faster, 1:43.76.
On June 25, 2012, Nick returned to the 2012 United States Olympic Trials. This was on his home track in Eugene, Oregon. Nick sprinted past other runners to make his second Olympic team.
At the London Olympics, Nick made it to the 800m final. He finished fifth with a new personal best of 1:42.95. David Rudisha won the race with a new world record.
In 2013, Nick achieved his best result at a major international event. He won a silver medal at the 2013 IAAF World Championships in Athletics. He ran a season's best of 1:43.55. This was the highest an American had ever finished in the men's 800 meters at the World Championships at that time.
Nick was removed from the U.S. team for the 2015 World Championships in Athletics. This was because of a disagreement about sponsors. He had to miss the 2016 Olympic Trials due to an ankle injury. He retired after the 2017 US Championships.
Run Gum Business
In 2014, Nick Symmonds and his former coach, Sam Lapray, started Run Gum. This company sells chewing gum that has caffeine for athletes. In 2016, Run Gum filed a lawsuit against USA Track & Field. Nick felt that some rules stopped fair competition. However, a judge later dismissed the lawsuit.
Nick often promotes Run Gum on his YouTube channel. He gives away Run Gum products as prizes for challenges. Run Gum also has popular social media accounts. Their TikTok account has many followers.
Life After Running
YouTube Channel
| Nick Symmonds | |
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| YouTube information | |
| Subscribers | 1.7 million (Nick Symmonds)
55.9 thousand (Nick Symmonds Too) 2.46 thousand (Nick Symmonds Gaming)(December 2024) |
| Total views | 584 million (Nick Symmonds)
6.6 million (Nick Symmonds Too) 32.2 thousand (Nick Symmonds Gaming)(December 2024) |
Nick Symmonds started his YouTube channel in 2017. His first idea was to share videos about the last two weeks of his professional running career.
His channel became very popular in late 2019. It now has over 1.7 million subscribers. In his videos, he often calls himself "The Bison". His content focuses on fitness and running challenges. He is good friends with fellow YouTuber A.J. Lapray. In 2020, he signed a deal with Gymshark.
In June and July 2020, Nick caused some discussion in the running community. He organized events for his videos that did not follow social distancing advice.
In 2020, Nick started a second YouTube channel. It is called 'Nick Symmonds Too'. This channel has shorter videos. They include reactions, tutorials, and challenges. As of 2024, this channel has over 55,000 subscribers.
As his main channel grew, Nick became known as "The MrBeast of Fitness". His channel's motto is, "It Pays to Be Fit!". For reaching one million subscribers, Nick gathered one million pennies. He let subscribers try to carry as many as they could.
On November 10, 2023, Nick announced he was taking a break from YouTube. He returned on August 31, 2024. His first video back was about climbing Denali.
Mile to Mountain Challenge
On May 1, 2018, Nick Symmonds officially retired from track and field. He also announced a big new goal. He wants to climb the Seven Summits. These are the highest mountains on each continent. Nick calls this goal Mile to Mountain.
He plans to climb Mount Everest in spring 2025. If he succeeds, he would be the first person to climb Mount Everest and also run a mile in under four minutes. As of May 2024, Nick has climbed three of the Seven Summits. These are Kilimanjaro, Puncak Jaya, and Denali.
Along with his Mile to Mountain goal, Nick also worked on climbing all fifty U.S. state highpoints. He completed this goal in 2024. He finished on Denali, which is the highest point in Alaska and North America.
Personal Life
Nick Symmonds has always been open about his beliefs. He believes athletes should have more control over their own marketing. For the 2012 season, he sold space on his left shoulder for a temporary tattoo. A company paid $11,000 to advertise their Twitter name. During big competitions like the Olympics, Nick had to cover the tattoo. But this often made people even more curious about it.
Nick said, "I've never had a problem speaking out about something that bothers me. The biggest thing that rubs me the wrong way is that governing bodies want to control the space I feel I should control."
In 2020, Nick married Tiana Baur. Nick has a pet rabbit named Mortimer. He even posed with Mortimer for an ad campaign against animal testing. Nick also enjoys fishing and flying planes.
