An Experience Like No Other
Gale hopes to build off her trip to the 2020 Tokyo Games
Mere tenths of a second can be make-or-break in track and field.
For Colorado State’s Lauren Gale, even more was riding on her 400 meter time than a possible trip to the NCAA Championships. She was trying to make Team Canada and go to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Gale started her track and field journey as a youngster after dabbling in soccer for a few years. As she began to get older, she became more competitive as a runner and began to focus on her mechanics after moving back to Canada with the Ottawa Lions club track team.
And with her father being in the military, track was one thing which was universal.
“I think she joined her first track team when she was 9,” Lisa Gale, Lauren’s mom, said. “I guess that’s 13 years or so. She joined it with a pile of her friends in Canada and then we moved to California and she was just fast. She used to beat the little boys, and I think we started to see that. And then she played soccer, and she was a pretty good at soccer. As she got older, the team would just kick the ball down the field because Lauren could run and get it and score.”
Before her time as a Ram, Lauren was the U16 champion of the 200 in 2015 before later becoming a silver medalist in the U18 and U20 division in 2016. She then won the Canadian U20 title in the 400 in 2019.
At Colorado State University, Lauren is a seven-time All-Mountain West selection. In 2019, she won the 400 indoor and outdoor events and also the 4x100m relay. She added another 400 title in 2020 and the outdoor 400 in 2021, where she qualified for Team Canada.
But for her, she had a bigger goal: The 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
“Well, who doesn’t want to go to the Olympics?” Lisa said. “Even when she was younger, it was always like, ‘wouldn’t that be cool?’ But when we had the chance, we watched her times last year as they got quicker and quicker, and then we compared them to the Canadian runners. I think at one point she was second or third fastest in the 400 in Canada, and we were like ‘you might have a chance to be in the 4x4, you can be an alternate or something and actually get to go experience the Olympics.’”
Unlike the United States, Team Canada didn’t hold official Olympic Trials to decide who qualified for the team. Athletes hoping to participate in the Olympics posted their times for Team Canada, with a selection committee making final determinations.
It was no sweat for Lauren, who treated her qualifying time like any other track meet.
“It was just like a normal season to be honest,” Lauren said. “I think I was training for our conference meet and then ended up qualifying for regionals, and I ran a really fast time. And I was like ‘oh my gosh, maybe I could qualify for the Olympic team?’, and I did, so it worked out pretty well. It was just a normal training schedule, but I was just running faster.”
Her 51.96 at the NCAA West Preliminaries was the magic number to send her to Tokyo. And once the initial excitement and shock wore off, it was time to train both mentally and physically.
But as casually as an Olympic athlete could be about their training, Lauren didn’t allow the pressure and stress of the Games to rule her life. She didn’t want to change anything too much, as clearly what she was doing was having incredible success.
“I think the hardest part was adjusting to the time zone change and sitting on a flight for 13 hours,” she said. “The travel there took over 40 hours for us to get there. We were sitting in the airport for 10 hours because they couldn’t get busses and it was a 13-hour flight, so it was just a long, long travel period.”
Despite struggling with the travel, Lauren soaked up every moment in Tokyo. She recalls a FaceTime call with her parents during the closing ceremonies, who were anxiously watching the TV in the United States.
I have a little bit more pressure when they’re saying my name at the line and they’re like ‘she went to the Olympics,' and I’m like ‘oh, guess I should try to go win.’Lauren Gale
Even though she was an alternate for Team Canada in the 4x400 and didn’t get to show her speed on the track, she isn’t letting the initial disappointment discourage her from trying again.
“I was excited to run, and my family was at the TV ready to watch me run,” she said. “I understand though, because most of the girls are pro athletes and they’re all 27 or 28 years old, and they’ve been doing this for a while and they know what’s up, whereas I’ve only been on the youth teams before. My first senior team being the Olympic team is a big step up, for sure. I understand that seniority and experience was needed for this race. They did so well I can’t even be mad because they did great and they’re great teammates. It definitely put a fire under my butt to want to go to Paris in 2024 and try to run again.”
For people close to Lauren, it wasn’t surprising to hear her have this response. She is described as incredibly stoic and unemotional when it comes to sports, giving her a huge advantage as an athlete.
“I don’t mean to be biased, but she is fun loving, she’s giving, she’s compassionate,” Lisa said. “I should mention she’s so level-headed about this whole thing. This Friday the team is going to USAFA and she has a chance to beat the Canadian indoor 300 record. So, I asked her a couple of days ago ‘so are you going to run the 300? You do have a chance to beat the Canadian record,’ and she says, ‘oh well, it just depends on what my coach wants to put me in, I’ll give it a shot if I can.’ She’s just not concerned about the glory of holding records or anything like that, she’ll just do it if she can. She’s so laid back about the whole thing.”
Despite being nonchalant about record holding, Gale has plenty of CSU records tucked away during her career.
In the 2019 outdoor season, she helped establish the 4x100m (43.92) and the 4x400 (3:38.91) records. She was part of the all-time CSU record for the 2019 indoor season for the 4x400 relay (3:40.55). In the 2021 season, she set the all-time CSU record for the indoor 400 (52.76) and the outdoor 400 (51.96).
“I think I am more confident in being able to go out and meet people and socialize,” Lauren said. “People love to ask about it and I love to talk about it. It’s a cool way to meet people and talk about experiences, and it helps on the track as well. I have a little bit more pressure when they’re saying my name at the line and they’re like ‘she went to the Olympics,' and I’m like ‘oh, guess I should try to go win.’”
Assistant track and field coach J.J. Riese is thrilled to have an athlete like Gale on the team. One of her strengths is her ability to buckle down and do what needs to be done without a complaint.
“She’s a great person,” Riese said. “She’s kinda soft-spoken and she’s a really good teammate. She works extremely hard on the track, and I’ve never heard her complain. There might be a handful of times in her career where she’s asked to do something different. I have to ask her a lot of questions to make sure I give her the right stuff. She’s super easy to coach, and she’s a really intense competitor.”
Despite the experience of being an Olympic athlete, Riese feels as though Gale didn’t let such an accomplishment get to her head. She still pushes forward to be a good teammate and improve every day, rather than adopt a huge ego.
Such an attitude will be a huge asset to the Rams, as she continues to improve and work toward her goals, and that of the team, as they approach the 2021-22 indoor campaign.
“She has a quiet confidence,” Riese said. “She’s had a pretty consistent development. At some point, there’s going to be bumps in the road. Every year she’s gotten better, which is rare to have a linear progression, because life happens. She’s doing some really good things in practice and it’s my responsibility to make sure we keep her on the rails.”