LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville native Yared Nuguse has finally eared a medal in the 2024 Paris Olympics. The 25-year-old DuPont Manual High School alum took bronze in the 1500-meter finals Tuesday afternoon with a time of 3:27.
Nuguse graduated in 2017 and teachers and coaches have not forgotten his name. During his big race many of them gathered in the high school auditorium to watch together.
The entire room was filled with cheers of joy and excitement as Nuguse neared the end in a photo-finish.
"I've watched all his races not in primetime because I wanna see it when it's happening," Erin Moss, Nuguse's former chemistry teacher, said. "So it's been really cool to experience that and see him get through and just know that he's having fun."
This win has been a long time coming as Nuguse is a former winner of the Kentucky Cross Country State Championship. He went on to qualify for the previous Olympics in Tokyo while in college where he did not compete due to an injury.
"If you asked Yared 10 years ago, 'Do you think you'll be running in the Olympics in 2024?' I do not think his answer would've probably been yes," Jill Bickel, the assistant cross country coach at the school, said. "I don't think running was number one on his radar. Congratulations Yared we're so proud of you!"
A watch party was also held in the Paristown neighborhood. High school cross country athlete Noah Bamba said it's exciting to see another Louisville native compete.
"Me, my coaches and my friends at practice this summer were talking about Yared and just how good he was when he was in high school too," Bamba said. "I was amazed by his times and everything."
Nuguse has a long history of roots in the city, and those who helped plant them remember the kindness he tracked around the school.
"I was trying to do 5k's and you know I'm kind of slow and out of shape and I'd be like, 'My time is down to this," said Moss. "And he would be like, 'Good job Mrs. Moss,' and he would try to encourage me even though I could never. I could do a quarter of a mile in his mile time."
Even after graduating seven years ago, Nuguse's legacy will ring through the hearts of many.
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