As a Washington State track and field alum who reached the NCAA finals three years ago, Paul Ryan might seem a natural candidate to be appearing in the Olympic trials for a second time.

As a young man who grew up attending a small private Christian school and dealing with injuries of the sort known to forcibly end an athletic career in its infancy, however, he represents an improbable success story of the sort sports inspiration is made of.

Having booked his spot at the trials by running a 1,500-meter time of 3 minutes, 36.65 seconds earlier this month at the Portland Track Festival, Ryan competed Friday at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., in the first round of qualifying for this summer’s Paris Olympics.

Ryan finished 10th in his heat and 29th overall at the Olympic trials with a time of 3:39.12. He failed to advance to the Paris Olympic team, but improved his mark from his last stint at trials by about six seconds and was 12 seconds behind the event winner, Cole Hocker.

Finding his footing

Ryan was distinctly energetic and physically active from an early age — but he was also plagued by setbacks. When he was around 5 years old, he suffered a broken femur while ice skating.

“He was so driven,” Paul’s father Max Ryan said. “I remember the following Easter, all the other kids would be running around, and he’d be hobbling behind them because he was so determined to keep up.”

Paul Ryan recovered, but went on to break the same femur again several years later while playing lacrosse.

“They healed it up this time, and they put some extra bone stuff into this hollow in his femur, and the next year he got better and started running again,” Max Ryan explained.

“It was kind of a freak thing,” Paul Ryan said Thursday, one day before the trials. “It was a cyst in the bone that wasn’t cancerous.”

Paul Ryan went to high school at Logos of Moscow, which only joined the ranks of teams eligible to compete in the Idaho Class 1A state meet midway through his time there. He took full advantage of that development, sweeping to state championships for multiple events both his junior and senior years in 2014 and ‘15.

Although his mother and high school coach, Allison Ryan, had once competed for the Idaho track team, the much-recruited Paul opted in favor of WSU, where he continued his development under the tutelage of Wayne Phipps (himself a former Vandal coach gone-over-to-the-Cougs). Paul Ryan felt that he “struggled a bit with expectations” and with the adjustment to “not being a top guy” early on at Wazzu, but ultimately found his footing and capitalized on the extra year of eligibility offered to college athletes in the wake of the COVID lockdowns in 2021.

That indeed proved to be the year of his life as he reached the NCAA finals, qualified for the Olympic trials for the first time — making the semifinals there — and garnered a three-year sponsorship deal with Adidas that has buoyed his ongoing running career since then.

Dreaming of Paris

When not on the road for competition, Paul Ryan currently lives and trains in southern California. He is accompanied both there and on the road by his wife of one year, Tamar, and his coach Terrance Mahon.

“Being married has really helped,” he said. “My wife’s just amazing when it comes to supporting me, and just doing lots for me. I would recommend for any athlete who’s serious to have a support system, whether it be your wife or your coach, to support you through your endeavors. It’s very helpful.”

In spite of further injury struggles over the past three years, Ryan has shaved precious time off his 1,500-meter mark.

“It was all God’s plan,” Paul Ryan said. “I’m very excited for the race, and for the opportunities that are in front of me.”

He felt that his prospects for reaching the final round of the trials, and perhaps claiming the third spot on the Olympic team itself, strengthened.

“I’m going to have to go to war every round,” he noted. “It’s not like it’s going to be easy tomorrow; got to really go for it. Not going to take any of them for granted, just try to build some momentum through this first round. ... I’m not the favorite to go (to Paris), but I’m dreaming about it for sure.”

He is not the only one.

“We’re hoping and praying for the best,” Max Ryan said. “There’s a lot of really good people out there, but Paul’s in there with them. ... This is a big deal, the Olympic trials.”