Conner Mantz Opens Up About Why Finishing Alongside Brother Clayton Young “Was Special”

Track icons Conner Mantz and Clayton Young’s inseparable bond are etched in the annals of history. It’s like neighbors reuniting on the competitive field since both live in Utah, just a stone’s throw away. They first crossed paths in college in 2017, and right at that moment, their mutual Olympic goal tied them together. 7 years of comradeship and contention toe-to-toe, any malicious behavior towards the other wasn’t anywhere near the Juno’s swans.

At the 2024 US Olympic Marathon trials, the 27-year-old Mantz and his older counterpart ended the race in a photo finish. The former earned the gold and the latter the silver. But they were just a hundredth of a second away from each other. Ahead of an adrenaline-fuelled season, let’s hear what the winner has to say.

Conner Mantz speaks about the unpredictability of sports

Recalling their Olympic trials feat and making it to the Olympic team, Young and Mantz went candid with CNN. “It’s kind of unbelievable because you never know who’s going to be good. 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”. If we take that race as a reference, Zach Panning was leading the race till the 22nd mile. But in an unexpected turn of events, he shifted to sixth, thus making way for Conner Mantz and Young to finish as 1 and 2. The Floridan crowd hailed when both clocked in at 2:09:05 and 2:09:06, respectively.

Having trained together for 7 years, both the athletes have immense love and respect for each other. This shone through when Mantz looked back to see who finished second and shrieked on seeing Young beside him. This was not only a victory for the athletes but also their admiration for each other.

Learning from each other throughout

In the same interview with CNN, the 27-year-old said, “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”. Young chimes in to say, 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”.

Both Utah natives look forward to standing beside each other in the starting line at the Paris Olympics as well. “If I can stick with him in practice, I can stick with him, hopefully, in Paris. That gives me a lot of confidence”, the two, though comrades, are also arch-rivals. Besides motivating each other, they also aim to outpace each other every time.

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