Nick Symmonds

Nicholas Nick Symmonds is an American middledistance track athlete, from Boise, Idaho, specializing in the 800 meters and 1500 meters distances. Symmonds signed with Brooks Running in January 2014 after a 7year sponsorship with Nike. In college at Willamette University he won seven NCAA Division III titles in outdoor track. Symmonds is a 6time US National 800 meters champion. He has competed over 800 m at the last two Olympic Games, reaching the semifinals in Beijing 2008, while in London 2012 he finished fifth in the final, running a personal best of 142.95. He won a silver medal in the 800 meters at the 2013 World Championships, having previously finished sixth in the 2009 final and fifth in 2011.

Symmonds was born on December 30, 1983, in Blytheville, Arkansas. His family moved to Boise, Idaho when he was three. His father Jeffrey Symmonds is a surgeon, and his mother Andrea is a teacher. Raised in Boise, Nick is a 2002 graduate of Bishop Kelly High School in that city. An avid outdoorsman, Nick earned his Eagle Scout award in high school. In high school he won state championships in the 800 m , 1600 m and 3200 m individual races and on the 400 m relay. He chose Willamette University in Salem, Oregon over other schools that could offer athletic scholarships. At Willamette, a NCAA Division III school, Symmonds earned a degree in biochemistry in 2006 and is a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity.

Source: Wikipedia