At Peace with His Career

By: D. Scott Fritchen

Erik Kynard Jr., sits in all black upon a winner's podium on the newly-named Cliff Rovelto Indoor Track last Friday night and begins to talk as the memories flood back. The 33-year-old Kynard, currently Associate Director of High Performance for USA Track & Field, has remained largely quiet since receiving his gold medal in a reallocation ceremony for his performance at the 2012 London Olympics. Until now.

In London, a 21-year-old Kynard cleared a height of 2.33m/7-7.75 but was surpassed by Russian Ivan Ukhov with a clearance of 2.38m/7-9.75, two inches higher, for gold.

In November 2021, the International Olympic Committee announced Kynard's original silver medal would be upgraded after a 2019 ruling disqualified Ukhov's results.

Kynard received his gold medal at a reallocation ceremony in front of the Eiffel Tower on August 9.

"So, for me, me knowing and understanding that I was getting the gold, I could be at peace with my career, you know what I mean?" Kynard says. "Like anything I ever did after that was going to be extra, basically, because I had accomplished my dreams."

The dreams began long ago. And what a career it's been.

Kynard sat down with K-State Sports Extra's D. Scott Fritchen to discuss life, his passion for high jumping, and the remaining life goals for one the most decorated athletes in K-State history:

D. Scott Fritchen: Was jumping your first love growing up?

Erik Kynard Jr.: I'd say yeah. I was never a kid who sat still. Early on, elementary school, first grade and second grade, I was that kid getting in trouble for getting out of his seat. I had issues with sitting still, and we realized I probably should get involved in sports. I started running track really early, probably about 6 or 7 years old, but I didn't start high jumping until I was 13. The song "Jump, Jump" by Kris Kross was popular when I was 3. I came from a large family and you kind of fall into figuring out who you are and what you want to do, and I definitely was passionate about it, for sure.

Fritchen: You were one of nine children.

Kynard: I was one of nine and came from a split home. I had an older sister, but I was the oldest boy. My dad was an athlete, and he had me very young. My mom, the same, she'll be 50 this year. I grew up fast, I'll say. I grew up with my parents. Because they were so young, they were learning how to become parents, and I think that played a huge part in my maturity level and development, which in turn played a huge part in my success as an athlete, for sure.

Fritchen: What is a most vivid memory growing up?

Kynard: Maybe my most vivid memory was having an accident when I was 6 or 7. I had to get a lot of stitches in my head. I hit my head when I jumped off a bunk bed and tried to hang from the ceiling fan. I was a dare-devil kid, man. That was my first interaction with having a concussion or getting stitches. That's a very vivid memory. I remember kids in the movies or in a cartoon seeing stars or seeing the white light, and then I lived it. A very vivid memory to me.

Fritchen: What was your favorite sport growing up?

Kynard: My favorite sport growing up was football. I'm a huge basketball fan and I love basketball, but my favorite sport as a young kid coming from Ohio was football, watching Ohio State football, and I played football up until I was a sophomore in high school, so that was definitely something I enjoyed growing up. I think I began to transition as I developed into an athlete into the sport of track and field and into a more predominately track and field fan. And I also enjoyed combat sports.

Fritchen: Who encouraged your passion for sports the most?

Kynard: I don't think it was a matter of encouragement as far as trying to instill enthusiasm. From where I'm from, sports for a lot of people is an outlet, and an opportunity to change your circumstance. For me, my father was an athlete, he visited K-State out of high school, he played football and ran track, and for him to be a young dad, I think he instilled into me that if I wanted to have an opportunity in life you have to go create it, and if sports is going to be that avenue for you, be serious about it and dedicated to it. He was definitely a huge level of encouragement, and my mother, also. She was a huge level of encouragement and strongly responsible for my development as a young athlete, especially my development as a young professional as it relates to communicating my feelings and emotions and sports.

Fritchen: Your dad, Erik Kynard Sr., visited K-State?

Kynard: He visited K-State probably in the 1990s. Coach Cliff Rovelto was an assistant here at the time. He was looking to play football and run track. It turned out that he didn't come to Manhattan because he was having a kid — he was having me. So, when I was growing up, I'd always hear him say that he should've gone to K-State, because you can always come home, but you can't always leave. You have an opportunity to leave home and develop and go see the world, you should take advantage of that. That's something I held onto.

Fritchen: How did you develop in track and field during your years at Rogers High School?

Kynard: So my high school coach was a 6-10 high jumper in his own right, a Division I athlete, and I ended up going there because I was so good at track as a freshman and the school I was at as a freshman was so bad that it felt like if I was going to make the most of an opportunity I had to put myself into a position where I had great leadership and could grow as a young athlete. I transferred to Rogers, where my dad's high school track coach was on staff. That's how I ended up over there. I was good and I wanted to be great. I jumped in the 2008 Olympic Trials and felt like I was going for the experience because in four years I wanted to be in the Olympics. At that time, researching, obviously, Scott Sellers was here at school. Everything pointed here to Manhattan.

Fritchen: How many scholarship offers did you have?

Kynard: I recall it being like I could go anywhere I wanted to go out of high school. At the time I think you could visit five schools. I only took three visits — Arkansas, Ohio State and K-State.

Fritchen: What set K-State apart from Arkansas and Ohio State?

Kynard: I wanted to be great. There was institutional knowledge here and intellectual property as it related to Coach Rovelto's knowledge of track and field and also the event of high jumping, and for all intents and purposes, the school record here was higher than the school record at the other schools. As a high schooler, at all the other schools, I would've already held the school record. I wanted to put myself into a position coming out of high school where I could improve greatly and be in a position to be a great athlete and have great leadership. That's why I chose K-State.

Fritchen: What's your favorite track memory at K-State?

Kynard: My favorite track memory had to have been my first track meet away from Manhattan. On one of my first meets, when he was still learning me as an athlete, and I was still learning him as a coach, we had a disagreement, because he was using sign language even though I was within earshot of him. I said, 'Man, why are you using sign language? Talk to me.' He wouldn't talk to me and kept using sign language. We were at the University of Nebraska, and I was livid. We started having a little disagreement and he gave me a crash course on coaching sign language and circumstance. It helped me to understand that he's not always going to be there to help, so I had to learn not only communication from afar, but also learn the event in a way that you don't need it. That being one of my first track meets in a K-State uniform, that was a very vivid memory. That's when I got a crash course on what my career would be like, so to speak.

Fritchen: When did you really hit your groove at K-State?

Kynard: I really hit my groove at K-State my sophomore year. When I came to K-State as a freshman, I had jumped 7-4 ½ and I didn't jump any higher than that as a freshman. I actually had one of the worst years of my career as a freshman at K-State. But it was just a lot of growing pains. Obviously, it was a new environment and a new coach. Coach Rovelto was putting me into a position where he was taking me apart and putting me back together to make me a better, more complete athlete. I just didn't understand it at the time, but it all worked out.

Fritchen: Fast forward to the 2012 Olympics. Describe that feeling when you qualified for the Olympics?

Kynard: Oh man, I was flying. I was actually disappointed because I didn't win the Olympic Trials in 2012. I came in second. So, it was disappointing for me. I was obsessed with winning. At the time, I was disappointed, but I was excited because that year the contingent of high jumpers were all coached by Coach Rovelto — myself, Jamie Nieto and Jesse Williams.

Fritchen: American-themed socks. You made those a national icon in 2012.

Kynard: (laughs) I had a buddy, a best friend of mine since high school, who actually bought me those socks and mailed them to me because he kept asking me what socks I was going to wear. Because everybody knew ever since high school, I had high socks. I taped my ankles when I competed and I thought the tape was unattractive, so I covered it up with the socks. So, he sent those to me, man, and he cuts my hair still to this day. I just came from Dallas where he gave me a haircut. But that's where the socks come from. They were a gift. It's funny because he says, 'Man, I'm a part of history, too, giving you those socks.' I actually almost got fined for wearing those socks. Nike only, man.

Fritchen: You're 21. You make your Olympic debut in the 2012 Games. You take silver. What is going through your head at that time?

Kynard: That probably is one of the last times I cried at a competition, ever. I was instantly distraught and upset. For me, it wasn't a dream come true, it was my dreams being shattered. To be that close. To be that close to winning the gold medal and not doing it, it was tough. That's the state I was in, man. I remember it like it was yesterday, going over to Coach Rovelto, and he told me to get my emotions together, because nobody paid money to see me crying. There were fans and people all over the world watching, and I should've been excited to come and compete in the Olympics and to medal. But at the same time, we're not naïve. For me, a lot of that was the nucleus of disappointment to me because I knew at the time the scales weren't even. But I wasn't a sore loser, and I experienced it, and I took that one on the chin, but it all worked out in the end.

Fritchen: In 2019, you receive a phone call that you were being reallocated with the gold medal from the 2012 Olympic Games. What do you recall about that phone call?

Kynard: It's interesting because it was a very, very troubling time in my life. I had just ruptured my Achilles and had moved from Manhattan to Atlanta and went to the U.S. Championships and finished second because I had ruptured by Achilles. At the time, I had won nine U.S. Championships. I had just resigned from coaching here. I recruited Tejaswin Shankar, who ended up being a national champion. I got the news when I was coming back from the Achilles. I was living in Atlanta, rehabbing and travelling, and trying to get back on my feet. So, for me, me knowing and understanding that I was getting the gold, I could be at peace with my career, you know what I mean? Like anything I ever did after that was going to be extra, basically, because I had accomplished my dreams. They might not have taken place in the manner that was most attractive to me, however, I did what I had set out to do. I was at peace with my career. I went on to attempt to make the team for Tokyo. They take three at the trials, and I finished fourth. I decided to retire.

Fritchen: Now take me to Paris, where you accepted the gold medal.

Kynard: So, now we're on the other side of things. I'm now the High Performance Director at USA Track and Field, so I spent a month in Paris, before I even had the medal reallocation ceremony. I've been at USA Track and Field for a year and seven months now. I'm still in the sport at a high level. I work directly for the CEO and COO of the organization. I still travel 150,000 miles a year. Two kids, now. Two boys. So, yeah, I'm still in it. The gold medal, though, that was a long day for me. It was a long day for me, and I was kind of ready to be done, and get back to the action. Although I was there to receive the gold medal and do the ceremony, that Olympics wasn't about me. I was there to do that, but what was more important to me, was being there to help our other athletes get on that podium. I wanted to help them accomplish their dreams. I always explain to them, just matter of fact, that I've already done these things, so for me, I'm here to help them accomplish their dreams. I've already lived. A lot of my focus is that a lot of athletes don't have the same experiences in the sport that I have had.

Fritchen: You've accomplished so much. What are your goals?

Kynard: Honestly, I'd like to continue working vertically in the sport. I'm excited about the Olympics coming here in 2028 and being a part of that. Everybody keeps asking me if I'd ever return to college coaching. I don't know if that'll ever happen. I mean, maybe when I get a few more grays up top and my two-year-old and one-year-old are a little older, maybe we'll take them to a trip back to Manhattan and figure it out. But as it stands, I won't be coaching at the collegiate ranks. I enjoy having the impact on the high performance standpoint of things at an international level, however, I'm always definitely grateful to the state of Kansas and city of Manhattan and Kansas State University. I want the student-athletes here currently and the student-athletes of the future to understand the significance of the support that they have here and the significance of the program, and I'd like to see the program continue to succeed. However I can lend a hand in that, I'll be sure to be sure I'm able to.

Kansas State University Athletics

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