ATKIN Sam

General
PACEMAKING TO OLYMPIC QUALIFICATION
In December 2020 he ran the 10,000m qualification time for the 2020 Olympic Games after starting a race in San Juan Capistrano, CA, United States of America, as a pacemaker. Instead of dropping out after pacemaking for five kilometres, he continued to run and finished the race in 27:26.58. "I had always intended to go to the meet and get an Olympic standard and it didn't happen in the 5000m and as the 10,000m progressed, I felt in good shape as I was going round so I just decided to carry on. My main focus was just to get my pacing job done first. I wanted to get it done right for the rest of the guys who wanted to hit the standard. In the back of my mind was, 'I've always dreamed about the Olympics'. I actually joked with the race director and asked whether he was going to pay me for pacing the five kilometres too. I mean I essentially got the guys round in a faster time." (trackstaa.com, 23 Dec 2020; flotrack.org, 15 Dec 2020)

TRAINING CHALLENGES
In 2020 he spoke about the difficulties he had faced training without sponsorship or a training group. "There are definitely times when I ask myself why the hell am I doing this? Doing track workouts by yourself are the times when you've really got to get down and grind. I have to say, I do wonder sometimes how it would be if I had teammates to push me and I was surrounded by other guys striving for the same goals. A few of my friends have often said to me that I am having to do all of this without the resources and support that other runners get and that I should get these opportunities now that I've shown what I can do." (trackstaa.com, 23 Dec 2020)

FOOT CONDITION
He says that being diagnosed with Freiburg disease, which he manages while training and competing, was an important moment in his sporting career. "Two doctors told me to quit running at 17 so that was definitely a pivotal point of my career. Surgery isn't usually successful so I've opted not to have it. I've never even met anyone else with it. I still get occasional reoccurrence now and it's a bit like arthritis as I have good and bad days." (athleticsweekly.com, 10 Dec 2020)

COACHING
He is an assistant coach at Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, ID, United States of America. His coach Michael Collins is also head athletics coach at Lewis-Clark State College, and Atkin has spent time living with the Collins family. "His family are like my family and we have a great relationship." (lcwarriors.com, 01 Jan 2019; trackstaa.com, 23 Dec 2020; lcvalley.dailyfly.com, 06 Dec 2020)

FURTHER EDUCATION
After completing a bachelor's degree in sports administration and business management in 2016, he graduated with a master's degree in business administration from Western Governors University in Salt Lake City, UT, United States of America, in 2019. (lcwarriors.com, 01 Jan 2019)