Fields of dreams: Olympics in sight for Henderson racer
He stayed up past 2 a.m. to watch four years ago, to confirm what he saw live from China was the journey he hoped to one day make. Connor Fields will do so in August, when he reaches the pinnacle of his sport.
He is 19 going on someone decades older.
This is the best kind of interview, when a few questions lead to an education by someone who seems more together in life than most wandering through it.
Fields already has visited all continents except Antarctica, and if he one day can discover a way to maneuver his bike around all that ice, I wouldn’t bet against him flying through the ecozone in a chilly minus-128 degrees.
He has become the face of BMX racing across the world, of a sport defined by off-road dirt tracks made of various jumps and large banked corners and other obstacles meant to increase speed and contact for those directing strong, quick-handling bikes with 20-inch wheels.
A professional race might last 38 seconds over one lap.
It’s an exhilarating scene for every tick.
Fields is among those favored to win gold at the London Olympics this summer, a kid from Henderson who attended Green Valley High and now lives and trains in Chula Vista, Calif., where they have built an exact replica of the course he and the world’s other top riders will attack in hopes of earning that top spot on the podium.
BMX debuted as an Olympic sport in Beijing, a discipline whose competitors have been described as owning "the explosive legs of a racer, the strength and flexibility of an acrobat and the steel nerves of a daredevil," that those who are the best at it exhibit a level of athleticism and artistry few can.
Fields has yet to officially qualify for the games, but his place on a three-man U.S. team is more secure than if you had the first choice in a pickup basketball game and LeBron James happened to be at the gym that day.
If he doesn’t win the U.S. trials next month, Fields certainly will be a coach’s selection, given that of the seven major competitions his sport has held since January of last year, Fields has won four of them – three World Cup races and a national championship event.
We’re talking Michael Phelps on a bike.
Crazy.
It all began at age 7, when his mother noticed a flier for BMX racing at a local bike store and thought it a sport her son might enjoy.
"The following week, I had my helmet on before I ever left the house to try it," Fields said. "Over time, I came to like the individualism of it. If I won, it was because of me. If I lost, it was because of me. It was a sport that let me travel. If you play (team sports) in high school in Nevada, maybe you get to go to California. I’ve raced in 15 or so different countries.
"We’re almost like gymnasts on bikes with how balanced and relaxed we have to be in hitting someone 20 feet in the air while going 40 miles per hour and landing softly while continuing to race. It’s a rush. There is contact everywhere. It’s not like trying to sprint past Usain Bolt in a straight line on a track."
He is the only child to Mike and Lisa, who last weekend sat and watched and wept as Connor won a world championship time trial in Birmingham, England. The dream is to see such a scene some 11 weeks or so from now, to again watch him climb a podium and wear a gold medal and place his hand over his heart as the national anthem plays.
He already has overcome a serious knee injury in a sport in which 30 years old is about the time professionals begin thinking about another career, in which body type isn’t nearly as important as skill.
It’s a grind just to make the medal round of BMX in an Olympics, having to survive races in qualifying rounds, quarterfinals and semifinals.
Connor Fields, a kid from Henderson who one day hopes to work as a physical therapist, has as good a chance as any on the planet.
"I still love it as much as I did when I started," he said. "Sure, you lose a little of that (innocence) when turning pro, but I’ve made every effort not to lose sight of the fact I’m a kid having a good time riding his bike. I don’t let the pressure or expectations of others consume me. It’s important to find balance in life and some days just go for a ride with friends or put the bike away altogether.
"But I also wouldn’t trade this for the world. It has always seemed incredible to me that how riding this little kid’s bike has put me in a position to compete for a gold medal in the Olympics for my country.
"That just blows my mind."
Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be heard from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday on "Gridlock," ESPN 1100 and 98.9 FM. Follow him on Twitter: @edgraney.
