Connor Fields is a three-time Olympian, a two-time World Champion, and the only American to win a Gold Medal for the United States in BMX Racing.

He is also the only Olympic athlete who has both won the Olympics… and nearly died while competing during the games.

As one of the world's all-time greatest BMX racers, Connor has represented the United States over 50 times in more than 25 countries across the globe. At 17 years old, he became the youngest rider to ever finish in the top three and step onto the podium at a BMX World Cup race. In 2012, at the London Olympic Games, Connor was 19 years old. He was the youngest athlete competing in his sport, lined up at the gate with men who, only a few short years ago, were his heroes. Signed posters of them hung on his bedroom walls. 2016 was the year when Connor reached the pinnacle of success for an Olympic Athlete, coming home with a Gold Medal to show for his unrelenting dedication.

Though Connor had what seemed to be a meteoric rise to the top of his sport, his racing career was not always marked by triumph. At the 2021 Tokyo Games, Connor was the number one seed in his semi-final. Only three more heat races stood between him, and being crowned the champion for the second time. Mid-race, Connor connected with another rider and collided with the track at 40 miles per hour in what would be recounted as one of the worst accidents in Olympic history. He was knocked unconscious, and could not get off the track by his own power. Instead of having the opportunity to defend his title, he found himself fighting for his life in the back of an ambulance. Connor laid unconscious in a hospital bed for 5 days. He awoke confused and alone, surrounded by medical professionals who spoke a different language, with no one to tell him what happened. Connor had sustained multiple injuries - broken ribs, a collapsed lung, torn shoulder and bicep ligaments, brain swelling, and the big one, a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) the damage including life-threatening hemorrhages to four different parts of his brain.

The road to recovery was two-pronged. Connor underwent multiple surgeries and countless therapy sessions to heal his physical injuries. That process is something no BMX Athlete is a stranger to. The challenge that the intense cognitive therapy presented was a task like none Connor had ever faced before. The first hurdle was to heal enough to regain the energy to do simple tasks. He then had to strengthen his short-term memory, memorize vocabulary words he’d used effortlessly for years, strengthen the neural pathways between his mind and his mouth so that he could speak correctly, and even, retrain his ability to balance, a skill that comes as easy to a cyclist as breathing. Connor learned firsthand the physical, mental, and emotional strength TBI survivors must find in themselves just to get back to “normal”.

Once he had healed, he could then start to process the impact that his final race would have on the rest of his life. In the blink of an eye, his career had ended. He would never again have the opportunity to compete in the sport he loved. He would never remember the last race he competed in. But he was alive.

It was a grueling year of rehabilitation, before Connor was fully recovered and cleared to ride again. Determined not to let that final race define 22-year of competition in the sport he loved, he jumped on his bike the very first day he was cleared to ride. Connor wanted to, “go out on my own terms”, and despite that he knew he was going to retire, and that he would never compete again, he sought to conquer the fear that threatened to keep him off the track forever.

Since his formal retirement, Connor has found new passions to devote himself to. He is the Emmy Nominated host for PBS’s hit TV show “Outdoor Nevada”. Connor commentates the BMX Racing broadcast, and provided commentary for the Emmy-Winning NBC broadcasts for both BMX Racing and BMX Freestyle during the 2024 Summer Olympics in France. Connor remains involved in his sport as a board member of USA Cycling and of USABMX. As a coach, he passes his knowledge of the sport on to young riders who wish to follow in his footsteps and occasionally, he still rides for himself, no passion lost for the sport that made him. Today, Connor travels the country presenting his keynote, “Now What?”, using his experience to inspire others to keep moving forward after wins, losses, missed targets, and even, a brush with death.