Sin City’s gold-medal hero went through Hell and returned, asking “Now what?”.
We all love underdog stories, from the fictional Rocky Balboa to Muhammed Ali. Their tales are timeless and unforgettable. Is there anything more inspiring than someone who overcomes staggering adversity and uses the experience to lift others?
The life of Olympic athlete Connor Fields is a testament to determination. The BMX athlete channels his near-death experience into an instrument for change, making him a true hero—Connor’s signature question, “Now, what?” has become one of pure power.
At only thirty-two years of age, Mr. Fields has competed in three separate Olympics, the first being thirteen years ago. After a seventh-place finish in Men’s BMX competitions in 2012, he returned in 2016 to win a Gold Medal, the first American to do so in that sport.
During Tokyo’s 2020 Olympics, Mr. Fields became huge news, albeit for a reason he wouldn’t have chosen. A shocking accident occurred as millions watched across the globe. I won’t include photos or videos of that fateful day, as they can be disturbing. Despite the direction it sent his life, Connor’s accident is not necessarily his defining moment.
“If you Google my name, the first thing you see is not that I won the Olympics, not anything else. It’s that I’m the guy that nearly died on live television. The only athlete in the history of the Olympics that has both won the gold medal and nearly died while competing.”
“In the lead-up to my third Olympic Games, I had no idea that life as I knew it would be forever altered. That I would come home lucky to be alive. The road to recovery included healing not only my physical injuries but also the four areas of my brain that suffered injury upon impact. I would even need to relearn how to speak properly. Through this, my keynote ‘Now What?’ was born.”
A simple two-word question, “Now what?” permeated everything the young man contemplated going forward. After a year of intensive therapy for his body and mind, Connor would consider returning to the Olympics again. But this time, that decision included very serious new risks. And Connor realized that there were boundless other opportunities to explore instead.
In February, Connor was a guest on ROADCASE CONVERSATIONS, a bi-weekly interview at MONDAYS DARK. He sat down with host Mark Shunock to share those deeply personal moments…the confusion of waking from a coma with no memories of the accident, fear of being alone in a Japanese hospital where English wasn’t spoken, months of intensive rehabilitation, and that all-important question…”Now what?”.
Fortunately for Connor, growing up in Nevada provided everything he hungered for, and it still does. He simply can’t imagine living anywhere else. The environment and culture here are perfect for the sport he fell into at an early age. A simple trip to a local bike park put him on the path to gold.
“I discovered BMX racing when I went to a BMX track for the first time in 1999. It was called Nellis BMX, and from that moment on, I just wanted to ride my bike. Everything was about that, and within that, it was about winning. I was always really competitive, trying to win the next race…whether it was a local competition or the state level, eventually evolving into regional, national, and then the world.”
“When BMX was in the Olympics for the first time, it became all about trying to win. Make it to the Olympics and then win. That was basically what my life revolved around from age fifteen until about thirty. In that window, I also attended UNLV and did some of the other stuff.”
Coming out of the COVID shutdown, Connor managed to complete a business degree he’d been working on for a very long time. He posted this right before Christmas in 2020, thankful to those who had helped and supported him along the way:
“After 8 years, I am going to be graduating this semester from UNLV with my bachelor’s degree in business management. Not quite the graduation ceremony I expected, but what’s new in 2020? A lot has changed since 2013, but we stuck to it. Homework was done on airplanes, hotels, and coffee shops around the world, and textbooks traveled worldwide.”
Seven months later, Connor was lying in a hospital, suffering from a brain hemorrhage with a broken rib, collapsed lung, and injuries to his shoulder and bicep.
“Obviously, that all changed when I had the accident in Tokyo. Then, it was all about recovering and getting healthy. That was priority number one. From there, I had to completely reinvent myself. What do I want to be when I grow up? What do I want to do? Now what?”
In part two, we’ll discover how Connor’s experiences led him to a positive new beginning: being a keynote event speaker, serving as an analyst for the Paris 2024 Olympics, and hosting the long-running adventure program OUTDOOR NEVADA on PBS. Mr. Fields will also share special moments at St. Jude’s Children’s Reasearch Hospital.
Photos courtesy of Connor Fields and MONDAYS DARK
To book Connor Fields for coaching, hosting, or speaking events, visit his official website here.
