Angelina Napoleon Just Made the World Championships at 20 Years Old—Now She’s Coming to Dominate U.S. Steeplechase and Become the Face of American Distance Running

THE RUNNING EFFECT PODCAST

Dominic Schlueter

Running, Sports

4.8 • 686 Ratings

🗓️ 11 August 2025

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Angelina Napoleon is 20, but she’s already shaking up the NCAA and U.S. elite running scene like a veteran.

She is a World U20 medalist, NCAA runner-up, Olympic Trials finalist, and the owner of more national records than most people rack up in a lifetime.

Let’s talk numbers: She ran 9:32 for the 3000m steeplechase this summer, a personal best that put her within a heartbeat of the Paris Olympic team. She still owns the U.S. high school record in the 2000m steeple, clocking 6:18 back in 2022. In the 1500? 4:10. The mile? 4:33. She’s got insane talent.

But stats only scratch the surface. Angelina’s story is about way more than medals. Born and raised in Allegany, New York (and now training at NC State), she’s gone from self-taught hurdler to NCAA All-American and team leader.

She’s fiercely honest about mental health, fueling struggles, and coming back from setbacks—using her platform to speak out for equity, mentorship, and real talk in women’s sports.

From hosting “Mindful Miles” on Instagram to launching a nutrition series with her new NIL deal, Angelina is showing athletes that you can be both vulnerable and unstoppable.

In today's conversation, Angelina walks me through this massive breakthrough performance, what goes into a breakthrough, the blueprint for her breakthrough, what it means to make a world championship team, why having a bleieving coach is so crucial, using missing the trials last year as motivation, and her dreams to break 9:00 in the steeple and be the face of the US in this event for the decade to come.

Tap into the Angelina Napoleon Special.

If you enjoy the podcast, please consider following us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts and giving us a five-star review! I would also appreciate it if you share it with your friend who you think will benefit from it.

Comment the word “PODCAST” below and I’ll DM you a link to listen.

If this episode blesses you, please share it with a friend!

S H O W N O T E S

-The Run Down By The Running Effect (our new newsletter!): https://tinyurl.com/mr36s9rs

-BUY MERCH BEFORE IT’S GONE: https://shop.therunningeffect.run

-Our Website: https://therunningeffect.run

-THE PODCAST ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClLcLIDAqmJBTHeyWJx_wFQ

-My Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/therunningeffect/?hl=en⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

-Take our podcast survey: https://tinyurl.com/3ua62ffz

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Do I really love what I'm doing and am I actually excited for what I'm about to do?
0:04.5	And if that answers yes, then I know I'm in the right place.
0:07.4	So I think that's how I've touched back on my high school days is, you know,
0:12.4	it's okay to be nervous, but just make sure you love what you're doing and make sure you're excited about it in general.
0:21.8	That was Angelina and Napoleon today on the Running Effect podcast, fresh off of making her
0:26.7	first ever U.S. team.
0:28.5	And guys, I can almost assure you, I feel very confident in this statement.
0:32.4	It's going to be the first of many teams that she makes.
0:35.2	She's kind of come out of nowhere.
0:36.2	And she addresses that breakthrough in today's conversation.
0:38.8	Last year at the U.S. championships, which was the Olympic trials,
0:42.7	she sat at home watching, and a year later, she places second in the entire country.
0:47.6	She's run some remarkable times as she talks about in this conversation.
0:50.5	A big goal of hers is to break nine minutes in the steeplechase.
0:53.7	She would be the
0:54.3	second ever female to do that from the United States of America. She runs for NC State,
0:59.6	where she has placed high at NCAA championships, including this past one in the steeple chase.
1:05.3	And she's got a good head on her shoulder. She gives a lot of deep wisdom and insights into
1:10.1	her career in the blueprint for breakthrough, the blueprint for success, if you want a lot of deep wisdom and insights into her career in the blueprint for
1:11.8	breakthrough, the blueprint for success, if you want a lot out of this sport. If you enjoy this one,
1:16.3	share it with everyone you know, word of mouth marketing is the best and easiest way in which
1:20.3	we can grow. Give us five-star review. It takes three to five seconds to do and hit the follow or
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 8 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Dominic Schlueter, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Dominic Schlueter and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.