Q&A: An Insider View of the Olympics with Runner Brandon Miller

Meet Brandon Miller - a star in track and field, from his NCAA victories to competing in the 2024 Olympics. Learn about his Olympic experience, training with the Brooks Beasts team, and next goals.

He's a 22-year-old Saint Louis native who went from being a kid prodigy in running to being a star runner at Texas A&M, winning the 2022 NCAA Indoor 800m gold medal, and placing third in the 2022 NCAA Outdoor 800m Championships. He earned a spot in Brooks Running’s pro track and field team, the Brooks Beasts Track Club, in 2023, setting himself up perfectly for his childhood dream: the 2024 Olympics. Meet Brandon Miller, one of the world’s top 800-meter runners. 

Fabienne (Strava): When did you know you first wanted to go to the Olympics?

Brandon: I've been dreaming about the Olympics since I was a little kid. In 2012, I was in the living room with my mother and we were watching the Olympics, and I told her I was going to be there one day.

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Fabienne: What was your experience at the 2024 Olympics – did it live up to your childhood dream?

Brandon: It was wild. You see all these amazing athletes walking around The Village and all the runners that you've looked up to are now the runners you're racing against in the rounds. 

Fabienne: Can you describe a standout moment?

Brandon: One of my standout memories from the Olympics was the first round. We were walking under the stadium to get ready to go out there and race, and they had a Frenchman in the first heat. When they announced his name, the crowd went so wild the stadium was shaking. That was the moment I thought: ‘We’re here at the Olympics.’ It was a great experience. I was so blessed to be able to experience that.

Fabienne: What did you feel as you were poised at the start line?

Brandon: It's a culmination of emotions. I mean, you're in the middle of living a dream, but you also have to stay focused because you have a task at hand. So I think for me, it was thinking, ‘Okay, we have a job to do - let's go do it.’

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Fabienne: What are your mantras or rituals to stay grounded in such a high-pressure moment?

Brandon: My faith is huge. So for me just spending time with the Lord and thanking him regardless of the outcome is something that's really important to me. Because without him, I wouldn't even be here. So for me, just sending up prayers, praying with my family and praying with the people that I love, and just going out there and competing to the best of my ability.

Fabienne: Leading up to the Olympics you trained with the Brooks Beasts team. Even though you compete individually, how does training with a team impact you?

Brandon: The saying it takes a village is 100% true. Not only is your family and friends super important, but the people that you surround yourself with every single day are super important. That’s exactly what Brooks is. From my communication with our Head Coach Danny Mackey, to the body work that Sarah, our athletic trainer, does, and Dr. Kyle who does all our nutritional supplements, it’s the family that I surround myself with every single day that helps. That also includes my training partners. Without them, I wouldn't be where I’m at. Day in and day out, they were pushing me to be better and better and better. Being able to push myself against those guys and take advice from them, because they are where I want to be, and under the guidance of Danny and the Brooks staff, was something that really helped me flourish this year.

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Fabienne: What did your training look like?

Brandon: My training was really consistent this past year. That's one thing that Danny, our coach, really stressed. One thing that gave me faith is that Danny sat me down before I signed with Brooks, and he told me, ‘I believe that you could have a really big drop in time with us.’ I trusted what he said. He came up with a plan, we worked that plan and the fruit of that plan was sweet. It worked.

Fabienne: I’ll now turn to you, Danny. On top of tremendous physical training, what psychological training do members of the Brooks Beasts team, like Brandon, get?

Danny: We're always doing perspective shifts and tying back what they're doing in the hard workouts to sync up with how the race is going to go. Some of them work with a sports psychologist, where they will spend an hour every other week really diving into holistically how they're doing in training, how they're doing in their life and how it's relating to their performance. There can be performance anxiety because these runners are standing in front of big crowds at major meets like the Olympics, with around 70,000 people, plus they're on live TV, and they get one shot to do it. So making sure they're present and focused and confident sometimes takes more work than just running in practice.

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Fabienne: What are your thoughts on what makes Brandon a special athlete and how he brings value to the team?

Danny: He's exceptional in his ability to grow in confidence from training. For being as young as he is and having had a lot of experience at the pro level, he has this innate quality to know where he's at in training. In terms of performance, not a lot of athletes have that. I think some are scared to be as confident as he is. He has really good genetics but he's also really good at bouncing back off of disappointment. He's really positive, and that's legitimate - that's who he is. He's also really invested in what his teammates are doing. He brings a lot of energy that literally changes the dynamic of the Brooks Beasts. It’s hard not to get motivated when you're around that. That's what he's like daily at practice.

Fabienne: And one final, inevitable, question for you, Brandon: What are your next running goals

Brandon: The 2028 LA Olympics for sure. I'll be 26 - a prime time in my career – and with it being on American soil it means a little bit more. It’s now about stacking consistent years upon consistent years leading up to that point. We have the Tokyo 2025 World Championships next year, and then we have two more World Championships after that leading into LA. So for me, it's about taking it year by year, and just being consistent in my preparation with LA 2028 in the back of my mind.