Kenneth Rooks On His “Rollercoaster” 2025 Season And His Hopes For The World Championships In Tokyo

The CITIUS MAG Podcast | A Running + Track and Field Show

CITIUS MAG

Running, Sports

4.8 • 1.7K Ratings

🗓️ 25 August 2025

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

"Going into Tokyo, as long as I get back to those basic things that helped me be successful in the past, I'm going to be just fine. I can focus on the process, get back to running my race, focus on what I need to do each lap in different circumstances and scenarios, have fun, and not put too much pressure on myself."

My guest for today's episode is Olympic silver medalist Kenneth Rooks. However, he hasn't quite looked like that this entire season. It left many wondering if last year's Olympic silver medalists had slipped from his form. But back at Hayward Field just a couple weeks ago in his element, Rooks gave the answer. He was calm through the opening kilometers of the U.S. Championship final, unhurried as the laps ticked by. He moved up lap after lap until he was finally leading – and he never gave that lead back.

A 59-second last lap sealed his third straight U.S. Championship title in 8:26.56, fending off his training partner Dan Michalski and veteran Bernard Keter. Rooks officially punched his ticket to Worlds and then a couple weeks later helped Michalski get the standard to secure his own berth to the World Championships in Tokyo.

It was a vintage Kenneth Rooks race: patient, poised, and relentless when it mattered most. Now the BYU alum returns to the global stage in Tokyo with the big question hanging in the air: can he summon that magic again?

We talk about bouncing back from some disappointing performances, how the results make a bit more sense when you look at the bigger picture, managing the weight of expectations, and how he's looking to summon that same grit again in Tokyo.

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Host: Chris Chavez | ⁠⁠@chris_j_chavez on Instagram⁠

Guest: Kenneth Rooks | @kenneth_rooks on Instagram

Produced by: Jasmine Fehr | ⁠⁠⁠@jasminefehr on Instagram⁠⁠⁠

Mentioned in this episode…

Watch: 2025 U.S. Championships Men’s 3000m steeplechase final

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Paris Pizzeriere. Your blind dates is already at the table and here she is. Cousin Brenda, what are you doing here? You're married anyway. Substitution brought to you by Paddy Power. Cousin' Brenda makes me for Beth, the office crush. Oh, get in! You might not always pick the right starter, but your sub can still deliver. Because with Paddy's super sub, your bet rolls over to the player coming on.
0:22.4	Paddy Power.
0:23.3	Valid on selected leagues and markets only. Pre-match and in-play bets on qualifying player outcome selections only. T's and Clusions apply. 18 plus scummelware.org. What's up, everyone? You are listening to the Sidious Magp podcast. I'm your host, Chris Chavez, and every week we go beyond the results to bring you conversations with the biggest names on the track, the roads and behind the scenes from world class athletes and coaches to innovators shaping the sport. If it's happening on the track, we're covering it with real insights that sharpened minds, deep dives into the moments that define careers and the kind of access to the pros you won't get
0:55.3	anywhere else. So let's get into it because we love track and field. Before we get into today's
1:03.4	episode, you know that we love giving our listeners a shout out when they leave us a five-star
1:08.1	review on Apple Podcast or Spotify. If you want your review to be read, leave us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. If you want your review to be read, leave us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts
1:14.6	and let us know why you love this show.
1:17.2	We just got this note from a Doug Smith.
1:20.8	Chris, Eric Aisha, big fan of the show, arrived late to the podcast this week for the U.S. Championships.
1:26.4	And about 30 minutes in, took a look at
1:28.1	the garden in the background and had a holy crap moment, realizing your set is in the carport
1:32.8	of the house I grew up in in Eugene. Walk to every U.S. Olympic trials from that house, attended
1:37.9	pretty much every one of pre's races in Eugene, including his final race in 1975, even watched
1:43.4	Eric in action at UO. Dual Meats and NCA's at Hayward.
1:47.3	My first reaction was, how cool is that that the Sidious crew is using my childhood home as the base of operations in Eugene?
1:53.8	But then my second realization after watching the Sunday morning show was wondering,
1:57.7	what kind of shenanigans Eric is up to in my parents' old bedroom upstairs.
2:01.5	Enjoy the best house and the best town to grow up in.
2:04.3	Go Sidious.
2:05.9	Thank you, Doug, for that review.
2:09.3	What a small world.
2:10.7	We love that house in Eugene.
	...

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