Atkin will be back in the Olympics soon enough

Shortly after Sam Atkin had been forced to drop out in the middle of the 10,000-meter race at the Tokyo Olympics in July, some of the most important people in his life — his twin sister in England, his coach in Lewiston — swore he’d be back. He’d recover quickly and begin training for the 2024 Games in Paris.

It wasn’t so obvious to Atkin himself.

He was 28. He still was unsponsored — the only entrant in that Olympic 10K who could say that. The Paris Olympics still was three years away.

Facing other big decisions in his life, he’d found it helpful to talk to his father, who, like other would-be spectators, had been banned from the Games because of the pandemic. So that’s what he did. He flew from Tokyo to London, met Kevin “Big John” Atkin at the airport, and they drove four hours to the gritty northeastern coastal town of Grimsby, where the elder Atkin long had been a dock manager.

Dad didn’t tell him what to do. He listened. The talk was emotional, tear-strewn. Sam later talked to his mother, Helen. Eventually he came to a decision: he’d be back.

Atkin, now 29, a track and cross country assistant at Lewis-Clark State, will be one of four individuals inducted into the college’s athletic Hall of Fame during a ceremony at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Clearwater River Casino. The others are Amanda Campbell of women’s basketball, Kyle Greene of baseball and Tausha Kuzmic of women’s track and cross country.

Also headed for the Hall are the 1983, 1991 and 2008 baseball teams and the 1998 women’s rodeo team.

Atkin has used shock-wave therapy to finally overcome the Achilles’ tendinitis that knocked him out of the Olympics. But it was a bear.

He first developed the condition in the early months of 2021 using an anti-gravity treadmill for the first time. He recovered enough to run in the British Olympic trials in June, but tweaked the injury in the ensuing weeks.

It was Atkin’s first Olympic Games, and he wanted to give himself every chance to succeed. The men’s 10,000-meter took place on a humid morning on July 30, and runners responded to the conditions in varied ways, creating a choppy rhythm.

Atkin’s boss and coach, LCSC track and cross country coach Mike Collins, watching from afar, thought he’d maybe been crowded into stepping on the rail that circles the track, worsening the injury. But Atkin isn’t sure he did. However, the pain was there from the start of the race.

Midway through, Atkin stepped off the track, onto the infield, and slowly allowed the implications of the move to sink in. It’s a process that lasted until that conversation with his father.

During the weeks before the Olympics, “I was basically pushing through the pain, and it just kept getting worse and worse,” he said. “The Olympics wasn’t what I had dreamed of growing up. The good aspect is I can call myself an Olympian. The other aspect is that I’m definitely hungry for achieving more than just being a participant.”

Collins sensed that would be his conclusion. So did his twin sister, Jen, who happened to be Miss Great Britain at the time, as well as a bit of a publicist for her brother. When contacted after the race by a radio broadcaster, she said, “I can guarantee he’s going to be back at the Olympics in three years.”

Atkin just needed to work that out for himself. He has done so now, and is even nearing a sponsorship deal, which would ease his way considerably.

He has qualified for the World Championships, which this year is taking place an eight-hour drive away in Eugene, Ore., beginning July 15.

It’s a bit longer trip for Atkin’s father. But he’ll be there.

Grummert may be contacted at daleg@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2290.

This year’s Hall of Fame Class (individuals)

Sam Atkin: 2011-16, cross country/track

Amanda (Campbell) Curtis: 1995-99, women’s basketball

Kyle Greene: 2007-08, baseball

Tausha (Kuzmic) Patterson: 2001-05, cross country/track