Yared Nuguse’s childhood ambition has never changed.
While the 25-year-old made the podium in the fastest Olympic men’s 1500m final in history, his dream since 13 has been to qualify as an orthodontist.
But world gold is the American’s target in 2025 as he builds towards a shot at Olympic glory in Los Angeles in 2028 – an achievement the self-confessed ‘Swiftie’ hopes will grant him the opportunity to at last meet singer Taylor Swift.
The deadline for this chapter of his life has been set, however – Nuguse has no intention of delaying his career in dentistry beyond the end of his 20s.
“I always said I will get back to dentistry. The goal is 2029 right now, so I’m going to enjoy these years of running while I have it,” Nuguse tells BBC Sport.
“When I had braces I was such a huge fan of my orthodontist. I now have a smile that I’m really proud of and that is something I would love to provide to a lot of other kids. You can give them this permanent confidence boost.
“I’d always been the nerdy, smart type and I’d just pointed everything towards getting into dentist school. Running was just this fun little side thing.”
Nuguse never saw himself as the sporty type.
At high school, he joined the bowling team to satisfy his extracurricular requirements, as it seemed “a great way to be in sport without being in a sport”.
The admissions tests were completed, the offers from dental schools were in.
But everything changed on the day his PE teacher informed the school’s track coach of his talent – an intervention which led Nuguse to rethink his plans and, ultimately, claim Olympic bronze in one of the most eagerly anticipated events of Paris 2024.
Nuguse, who also won world indoor silver last year, has asserted himself as a key player in a men’s 1500m event that has captured widespread attention amid the rivalry between Josh Kerr and Jakob Ingebrigtsen.
But as Kerr and Ingebrigtsen engaged in a public war of words last year, Nuguse was happy to leave the spotlight to his competitors and enjoy the fallout from afar.
“There’s already a lot of pressure on all of us but at the Olympics there was a little more on them, and a little less on me,” says Nuguse.
“I did love going to practice earlier in the year and it was like ‘oh my God, did you hear what they said?’ It’s the juiciest running drama we’ve had in a long time.
“It is a little funny how serious it felt in the moment. You can’t focus on it too much because it’s their business, but it made good running conversation, that’s for sure.”
