These team USA marathon runners are rooting for each other on and off the track

It's easy to get sucked into the competitiveness of sports, especially when medals are up for grabs.

But in a few short weeks, when six U.S. marathoners start their race at the Paris Olympics, two of those runners will be rooting for each other: Clayton Young and Conner Mantz.

The pair are longtime training partners and friends, as well as the two fastest men's marathoners representing the U.S. at the Olympics. They first met on a run at Brigham Young University in 2017. And as Young remembers it, it was far from a race among equals.

"I remember looking back on this run as we were a pack of 15 to 20 guys. He had just come back from serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and he was probably 20 to 30 pounds overweight, but he was just hanging on for dear life."

After 4.5 miles, Mantz realized he couldn't keep that pace.

"And I think that's when I first really started to discover how gritty Conner is," Young recalled.

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A memorable trial

Aside from being good friends over the years, the two athletes have been tight competitors as well.

The two finished the Olympic trials marathon in February within a second of each other, running at a blazing pace of four minutes, 56 seconds per mile on average.

And even racing at those incredible speeds, their friendship and camaraderie during that marathon was hard to miss.

Mantz had been doubting himself ahead of the race, after facing heartbreak at the Olympic trials back in 2021.

"Nobody expected me to make the team, but I expected myself to make that team. And I felt I fell short. [I had a] top three run in the 510. And I was fifth place in a race. And it was pretty tough, mentally and physically and emotionally to move on from that because the Olympics is such a big thing."

Young and Mantz were the number one and number two seeds going into this year's Olympic trials, as well as fan favorites. But the pressure was still intense, as Young recalls: "There's a lot that can go wrong in a marathon."

And as the race began with 200 competitors and only two spots on the team, the two friends managed to keep their cool as the competition began to melt away mile by mile.

"In fact, there's this moment on the NBC broadcast where Connor turns around and he kind of holds out his hand," recalled Young. "And I'm thinking, 'What the heck do you need, Connor? Like, do you want one of my water bottles? Do you want something else?' And I finally realize that he wants a high five, so I give him this high five, and it's probably the sloppiest high five you'll ever see on national television."

"But it was this cool moment where I got to really realize that Connor was still Team Clayton. He was still on my side. He was confident. He knew that we could both do this. And it was just this really cool moment with about eight miles to go."

The next challenge

Now, the two athletes will be representing Team USA in Paris. For the longtime running pair, competing in the Olympics alongside each other is a source of comfort and motivation. Clayton knows he'll stick with training:

"Having Connor there every step of the way, not only to the trials finish line, but from now training all the way to the start line of the Paris Olympic Marathon is where like, that's really where the strength comes from. I know that Connor is going to keep me accountable. He's going to keep me fit. He's going to keep me fast and focused as we approach Paris. And that's our best team moving forward for the United States as we get ready for the Paris Summer Olympics."

And Connor will get to keep living what he describes as a dream come true:

"The last few moments of the Olympic trials kind of felt like a dream. And I kept thinking, 'Maybe something's going to go wrong, maybe we're going to have a nightmare scenario.'

And it probably wasn't a healthy thing to be thinking about, but it was just really cool to be, running down that stretch and Clayton and I are really like, 'Are we really qualifying for the Olympics? Are we really going to go one two at the Olympic trials?'

And it was just awesome to be able to have that happen. It just felt like a dream that kind of feels like it's so far out of reach. Like yeah, it could happen, but it never will."

This time, however, it did.