For BYU’s James Corrigan, the last two weeks have felt like “a dream.”
The 22-year-old sophomore from Los Angeles, California, knew he was an “underdog” in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the U.S. Olympic Trials on June 23, but he shocked everyone by finishing third in the finals.
Although he finished third, Corrigan’s time at the trials (8:26.78) was short of the Olympic qualifying standard of 8:15.00, and he wasn’t ranked among the top 36 in the world. This set off a mad scramble to get Corrigan to the Penn Relays Summer Showcase in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, June 29, where he would have one final chance to qualify for the Paris Olympic Games ahead of the June 30 deadline.
On a hot and humid night in Philadelphia, the Latter-day Saint returned missionary not only qualified with a time of 8:13.87, but he set a new BYU school record and recorded the 13th fastest time in the world this year.
“When I crossed the line, I was so so excited,” Corrigan said. “It was such a relief to see it all come together.”
The amount of pressure on Corrigan to perform was “unreal,” said Ed Eyestone, BYU director of track and field.
“To finish in the top three at the Olympic Trials, then being asked to essentially run sub 8:15.00 and also to come out here in not ideal weather conditions and perform like he did was amazing,” Eyestone said. “He had the confidence and faith to get the job done. With two laps to go, I could tell he was tired but could also smell his Olympic berth. It was an impressive performance.”
As thrilled as Corrigan is to be going to the Olympics, he is looking forward even more to his upcoming marriage to Ashley Nolan at the Saratoga Springs Utah Temple on Friday, July 5.
“Regardless of how I was going to run, I knew I had my marriage to look forward to,” Corrigan said. “For everything to exponentially happen as it did, it’s pretty dang cool to be able to share some of these experiences with her. It reminded me that regardless of how I did — and she let me know this — that she would be excited for me and we would celebrate everything together. I love her because she doesn’t care how I do, and she is so excited to see me meet my goals and is excited to support me. So having both of these things happen at once is an awesome deal.”
From dream to reality
Corrigan will join his former BYU teammate, former NCAA champion Kenneth Rooks, and Under Armour athlete Matt Wilkinson on Team USA for the men’s steeplechase event.
Rooks, also a returned missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, won the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the trials with a time of 8:21.92.
Rooks remembers seeing Corrigan look at the clock and smile with one lap to go, knowing his goal was within reach. He saw Eyestone give Corrigan his signature windmill arm gesture, similar to a baseball coach signaling a baserunner to sprint for home base. Rooks was standing near the finish line, cheering for his friend and training partner when he finished the race.
Rooks thought back to a conversation he had with Corrigan during the 2023 indoor track and field season in which Corrigan decided to go all-in on the steeplechase and see how good he could be.
“It was special to watch James do what he did,” Rooks said. “He put in a lot of hard work and has gone beyond what he envisioned.”
Less than two months ago, Corrigan’s best time was 8:46.60. How did he trim 33 seconds off his time in such a short period? He knows a lot of people are wondering how his times dropped so dramatically.
“I think the capacity was there the entire time, but we purposely set training up to peak at the right time,” he said. “Everything felt normal and right, and it was just a matter of trusting my training and expecting that things were going to continue to get better.”
Even as he said that, Corrigan admitted he was pretty surprised. “After everything that has happened, I’m more of a believer.”
Corrigan said running in the Olympics was always a dream but didn’t seem realistic until this year.
“Sometimes your eyes just aren’t set on something that high. You have smaller goals and haven’t really thought about it,” he said. “This year I definitely thought about it with so many great teammates and world finalists. My horizons were widened a bit, so I started thinking about the Olympics. It became even more of a reality when I made it to the Olympic trials.”
Catching up with Rooks
Rooks decided to pass on his final track and field season at BYU and embarked on a professional career in January, which included signing a contract with Nike.
On Feb. 16, Rooks married his wife, Taylor.
In March, he suffered an Achilles injury that set his training back a little bit, but he recovered to win at the trials and qualify for the Paris Olympics.
“I’m excited to be going to the Olympics, and I’m also trying to be focused on staying healthy,” he said.
Rooks and Corrigan will train together for the next month before traveling to Europe to prepare for their Olympic event. He attributes his success to the Lord and is also grateful to his wife and many others for their encouragement and support.
“I personally feel like a lot of the success that I’ve had, and the mindset that I have, is because of my faith in Jesus Christ,” Rooks said.
Focus on Christ
Both Corrigan and Rooks expressed gratitude for their membership in the Church and have felt strengthened through their faith in Jesus Christ.
“As I focus my life on Jesus Christ and continue to become like Him, I have been able to have a better perspective on why I run and why I choose to compete,” Corrigan said. “It’s that I want to get better and that’s my ultimate goal.”
Corrigan was originally assigned to labor as a missionary in Madagascar but served his entire mission in Tempe, Arizona, from 2020 to 2022. His mission experience has helped him learn to set goals and manage expectations.
“There are many circumstances you can’t control as a missionary, and you have to focus really hard on the things that you can,” he said. “Those lessons I learned as a missionary have directly applied to my championship racing in the last month.”
Focusing on the Savior has also helped Corrigan to balance running, marriage and Olympic preparations. He says he’s still learning, but feels the best path is to focus on his eternal goal of becoming like the Savior and having an eternal family, then other priorities will work together and fall into place.
