Sydney Vaught – This is Everything We Worked For

Sydney Vaught is one of the newest names on the professional running scene, but after winning the 2026 USATF 10,000m Championship, she’s quickly becoming an athlete you’ll want to know. Before turning pro, Sydney was a standout at the University of Arkansas, where she became an All-American, SEC Champion, and one of the top distance runners in the NCAA. But her journey to the professional ranks wasn’t always a straight line. In this episode, Sydney shares what it was like growing up in a small Wyoming town, how she connected with her college coach Mike Burns (who continues to coach her today) and the moments when she questioned whether running was really the path she wanted to pursue. She also opens up about making the leap to running professionally for Nike immediately after college and what that transition has been like. Sydney takes us inside her first national championship race, reliving the emotions of the moment she crossed the finish line as a USATF champion. She talks about what’s next in her career, life away from the track, and a few of her favorite things

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Aired: August 20, 2026