Wives of BYU Olympians reflect on their experiences
PARIS—They say it takes a village to raise a child, and it is the same with Olympic athletes.
These Olympians get all the accolades and praise from the fans and from the media, but their biggest support systems -their families and especially their wives - sacrifice so much and receive little to no attention.
So, who are these support systems who are constantly there behind the scenes? For BYU Olympic runner Conner Mantz, it’s his wife Kylie Mantz, while James Corrigan has his wife, Ashley Corrigan and Clayton Young has his wife, Ashley Young.
Supporting an Olympian—Sacrifices
Being a wife of an Olympian is not just celebrations and parades. It takes tremendous sacrifices on their parts to support their husbands as they achieve their dreams and pursue their careers.
“I kind of imagined marrying a little BYU boy who would go to work from 9-5 and instead married an Olympian,” Kylie said.
James and Ashley Corrigan got married three days after James qualified for the Olympics. Ashley said their wedding was lovely but hectic. The focus was not only about them, but also about James’ pending Olympic debut.
“The wedding day was busy. Everybody was talking to us about the wedding, but also about his situation,” Ashley Corrigan said. “It was a lot, but honestly we were grateful to be done.”
Olympians often have a different day-to-day life. Decisions often revolve around whether an athlete should relocate to a new city for better training opportunities, like to the Mantz’s did by moving to Park City, Utah, or choosing to spend a full day training and sleeping.
“Clayton sleeps 7-9 hours at night and 1-3 hours during the day,” Ashley Young said.
Aside from wrangling their kids, Ashley Young is her husband’s personal nutritionist.
“Ashley Young is literally part of Team Clayton in the fact that she is making meals for him so that the moment he finishes his workout he's being fueled so he can recover better,” said BYU’s track and field assistant coach Ryan Waite. “He's not able to recover as well if he doesn't have that support of his wife,”
“My No. 1 goal is to make Clayton's recovery as seamless as possible. I feel like I can make the biggest impact through his nutrition and his rest,” Ashley Young said.
These Olympians families’ lives are eat, sleep, breathe, run.
Kylie said because they spend so much mental energy thinking about training, she struggles focusing on the present.
“I don’t think life after the Olympics exists right now,” she said.
While the Olympics are not eternal, it is important to their lives right now, so many of wives’ dreams and passions have been put on the back burner.
“I think in a marriage, a lot of times it's 50/50. I had a friend recently tell me, sometimes it's 75/25. Right now, it's probably 95/5."
Additionally, there are many times where these Olympians have to distance themselves from their loved ones to get in the right mental state.
“A couple of nights before the [Olympic] trials [Conner] was like, ‘You’re not staying with me.’ I remember crying myself to sleep thinking, ‘He doesn’t want to stay with me. I’ve been a really huge part, but he doesn’t want me.’ I’ve kind of worked through that and have been ‘[He] needs to do what [he] needs to do.’ [His] separation is actually helping us,” Kylie Mantz said.
Supporting an Olympian—Rewards
Despite the plethora of sacrifices, there are numerous blessing for athletes and their families. The No. 1 being seeing their husbands succeed.
“I've got to this point in our marriage where I'm like ‘This is awesome, we love it’ and I want this for him,” Kylie Mantz said.
For the Olympic Trials in Orlando, Florida, Ashley Young said that it was wonderful seeing their dreams come true.
“As I watched [Clayton] run in that final stretch, I just cried—from gratitude, relief, excitement. He had worked so hard and planned for this for so long—it was our dream and it felt so satisfying to see it play out in real life,” Ashley Young said.
Racing for the Young family is a family endeavor.
“Our girls, 5 and 3, love to talk about ‘Dad's flag’ (the American flag) and the Eiffel Tower. Their imaginary play centers around Orlando and Paris - it's so cute! Every night they pray that Dad can ‘run fast and win the Olympic marathon and bring home a medal.’ They love to run down the sidewalk with him,” Ashley Young said.
Ashley and Clayton Young are a team and to support Ashley motivates Clayton during his races.
“I love to get around the course and see Clayton as often as I can. I've got an awesome bike route that gets me to 12 places. It's so fun,” Ashley Young said. “Before his races, Clayton and I will talk about what his cues are and what would be helpful to hear. But honestly, when it comes down to it, I forget everything I planned to say and I mostly just yell "I love you!" over and over again.”
With the ebbs and flows of injury and success, Kylie Mantz said being an Olympian’s wife gives her an eternal perspective and draws her closer to the Lord.
“Something that I've been feeling since he's made it is and I was thinking about this but when much is given, and we've been given much, much is required. I've been feeling that requirement a lot,” Kylie Mantz said.
The Need for a Support System
Having a solid support system inevitably helps the Olympians be better runners.
“I think with James and Kenneth both being newly married in the 2024 year, it's been an extra boost for them—to have another person in their corner,” Waite said.
Kylie calls herself Conner’s source of “unconditional love.” Before each race, she tells him “I love you and good luck.”
“[Conner] has such a huge support team and I am the unconditional love person. I know my place there and that’s Ed Eyestone’s job and not mine,” Kylie said.
James Corrigan said that he initially wanted to marry someone not familiar with the running world, so they can love him for him—he has found that with Ashley.
“In the best way possible, like, it doesn't matter to her whether I do good or not, because it's not going to change your opinion of me, but because it is important to me,” James Corrigan said.
These athletes know of the sacrifice and time of their spouses and are grateful for them.
“I think it's been a huge sacrifice on Kylie's end. I think it's just the sacrifice that Kylie puts in that draws us closer,” Conner Mantz said.
Being a Team
For these families, running is their life, it is their career, it is how they provide for their families. It is a new lifestyle with challenges, but life has challenges.
“I’ve learned that it’s just gonna be crazy and there might not be a schedule things might be changing and it’s just gonna be crazy but so exciting. There are gonna be hard times for sure but it’s gonna be fun,” Ashley Corrigan said.
Ashley Young said she will support Clayton as far as he wants to go.
“This can be Clayton's job for as long as he wants to continue. That's pretty awesome. We dreamed about living this lifestyle during his collegiate years, and it's so exciting that it's a reality,” she said.
While Olympians families might not get plastered all over NBC, they provide a pivotal role in the athletes training and personal lives.
“A lot of us spouses feel very similar, but it is a unique kind of support. It is really hard that they get all the attention, but it really does take a village to create this,” Kylie Mantz said.