After two decades of competitive BMX racing and trips to the London, Rio de Janeiro, and Tokyo games, gold medalist is ready for a completely different experience when the iconic Olympic theme song plays.
“The Olympics jingle used to give me anxiety,” says Fields, ’20 BS Business Administration. “Now when I hear it, I’ll be sitting there with my popcorn ready to be a fan.”
But, a fan with extensive insights. He will share his perspective as an NBC commentator for the BMX events during the Summer Olympics, which kick off with opening ceremonies in Paris today.
“I’m honored to be involved, I hope to share the stories of these incredible athletes and create BMX fans,” Fields says. “I’m also really excited because in my adult life, I’ve never enjoyed the Olympics from this side."
A terrible crash during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics left him with extensive injuries and a yearlong recovery. Here he shares how he pivoted, with the help of his UNLV degree, from competitor to gear designer, coach, and TV show host.
Your third Olympics ended with a terrible crash, extensive injuries, and then a long recovery period, how did you handle that?
After my doctors told me, a year later, that I was cleared for any physical activity, I had to weigh the risks. If I had even a minor concussion in the future, it could be detrimental. With all of the information about the long-term effects of head injuries, I decided the risk of jeopardizing the next 60 years of my life was not worth going to my fourth Olympics, trying to win another gold medal, or trying to win my third world championships. I felt like I had done enough.
Did you have a plan for what you’d do after retiring from competition?
I didn’t, and that was on purpose. For the first time in my life, I said, I'm gonna allow myself to just not have a plan. It was hard, but it was a good thing to do for myself.
In making the decision to retire from competing, I did feel a sense of relief because I had a college degree. I had connections. I had begun to set up for my future. But I was competing at a high level from 17 years old. So, at 29, I decided to chill for a minute.
You retired in 2022, but it doesn't seem like you chilled for long. Now what are you up to now?
Well, I don’t sit still very well, so I’m doing a lot. I’m still involved in the BMX world, and probably will be forever. I feel like I have a Ph.D. in the sport after racing for 23 years.
I’m an official ambassador for USA BMX, and I coach riders of all ages and skill levels all over the country. I feel a duty to pass along my experience and knowledge, but I also enjoy staying involved and training the next generation.
I do keynote speaking, talking to groups about motivation, peak performance, mental health, and just taking my experiences and turning them into techniques people can apply to reach their goals, whatever those may be.
I also host on PBS, which has been a blast. We just finished filming my second season.
After returning from the London Olympics, you started training for the 2016 Games. You also began studying at UNLV. What led to that decision?
I’m lucky I had good people around me to teach me this young, but I realized I was not going to be able to be a pro-BMX-er for the rest of my life. This was going to be a season of my life, maybe 10 years, if I'm lucky. I knew I would need to figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up at 30.
So I figured while I was competing, I could just slowly tick off pieces — just two classes, sometimes only one class a semester. If something was offered online, I’d take it while traveling. I have textbooks that are more well-traveled than a lot of people. Eventually, after nine years, I completed it.
Having a degree made you feel better about facing a big career decision. How else has that helped you?
I have a business management degree, and I was able to use it even when I was racing. As a professional athlete, you are a business and a brand, so a lot of the things I learned in school, whether it was accounting, marketing, management, or relationship building, I plugged directly into what I was doing.
One of the biggest things I took from school was how to work with people. Now, I’ve designed a signature grip for BMX bikes in partnership with a grip company. I got to design the product, from the feel to the style and colors. I also worked on the marketing plan, so it was like running my own little business.
Any cool stories from your adventures hosting Outdoor Nevada?
Tons. In general, it’s been cool to learn how much there is to Nevada. I had no idea there was a glacier in this state or that over 100 moose now call Nevada home after moving in from Idaho. There’s plants and animals that don’t exist anywhere else, like the Devil’s Hole pupfish, which only exists in Devil’s Hole, a cavern outside of Pahrump.
We also get to work with a lot of great people. Whether it’s the Nevada Department of Wildlife, the Bureau of Land Management, or locals all over the state — they show us all the best spots.
Do you have any recommendations for places to check out?
The episode will come out this fall, but comes to mind; it’s about three hours north of Vegas. You’ll be driving through the desert, and out of nowhere, you come across almost like an oasis. It’s this massive reservoir. You can swim and fish there. Then, just down the street from the lake are natural hot springs that are 80 degrees year-round, and the water is crystal clear. You can snorkel and see the fish; they’re friendly and come right up to you. It feels like you’re in the Caribbean.
Another really fun trip we did was to Pioche, outside of Caliente. There’s some amazing wildlife, state parks, hiking trails, mountain biking, and just beautiful outdoor areas, and it’s not that far away to get out of the city for a weekend.
Any advice for students pursuing a degree and balancing a busy schedule?
When I think about winning the Olympics, it was overwhelming, and this was a lot like that. But, the same way that I learned in training, I just took it one step at a time, and you tick off each box as you go. And then eventually, if you follow that plan, you follow that process, you get there.
At the beginning, I was thinking, OK, I need 120 credit hours to graduate, and I’m currently taking 6. I’m like, I’m not even making a dent! Then, all of a sudden time goes by, and I’m only at 25 hours, and it still feels a million miles away. But, I always took it one class at a time and told myself I was moving in the right direction. That’s what I focused on.
How did you first get into BMX racing?
When I was a kid, my mom found a flyer at the local bike shop advertising the BMX racing track by the Air Force base. She was thinking, I was a 7 year old with endless amounts of energy, this might be a good way for me to burn some off. So, I tried it, and right away, I loved it. I played other sports until I was 10, 11 years old. But, around that time, I just decided that BMX was it for me. It wasn't part of the Olympics then, so that wasn’t on my radar.
It was just something I wanted to do for fun. When I was 15, I was already racing competitively, and it finally became an Olympic sport. I watched the 2008 Olympics when BMX made its debut on TV and thought that was the coolest thing I've ever seen. I decided right there that I wanted to go to the Olympics. That was when the switch flipped and I started taking training more seriously while I was in high school. Eventually, I was able to turn professional at 17.
In 2016, you got another shot at the Rio Olympics. What was that like?
When I went to London, I was the youngest guy in the event. I was on a tear, and it felt like everything was coming so easy. Of course, I didn’t get the happy ending I wanted. When I got to Rio, I was just happy to be there. I was a bit older and had learned from my mistakes; I was focused on doing my best. I had more appreciation for the moment. I realized how truly once in a lifetime this opportunity was to go to not only one Olympics, but two.
Winning gold in Rio was amazing. It was like every emotion turned up to maximum volume: thrilled, ecstatic, over the moon, but also in shock. Because I’d thought about this day, every day for eight years, and now it’s actually happening. I was exhausted because I just finished competing, but I was relieved because there was so much pressure to win.
The biggest feeling was a sense of pride and gratitude for all the work that myself and the people around me put in, the commitment that we all made, and that we did it. We really all went all in, and it paid off.
What’s next for you?
To be honest, the back half of this year will be a little bit mellow, but I'm excited to see where this TV stuff takes me. My next season of Outdoor Nevada airs this fall. The perspective that nearly losing my life taught me is that I'm appreciative of every day, and I'm appreciative of not knowing what the future holds. I think it's part of the fun.
