Connor Fields
- Olympic Gold Medalist
- Near Fatal Crash Survivor
- TV Host
- Mental Health Advocate
Connor Fields Speaker Biography
Connor Fields is a three-time Olympian, two-time World Champion, and the first American to win Olympic BMX Gold.
As one of the world’s all-time greatest BMX racers, Connor has represented the United States 50+ times in 25+ countries. At 17-Years-Old, Connor became the youngest rider to ever podium a BMX World Cup.
However, his racing career was not always marked by triumphs. At the 2021 Tokyo Games, as the number one seed in his semi-final and on pace to battle for another medal, Connor went down in one of the worst crashes in Summer Olympic history. Based on previous results, Connor still qualified for the 2021 Olympic BMX final, but instead of competing in that final race he fought for his life in an ambulance. Connor sustained multiple injuries – broken ribs, a collapsed lung, and torn shoulder and bicep ligaments, as well as brain swelling and four life-threatening brain hemorrhages.
The road to recovery took him through surgery, therapy, and intense physical and cognitive rehabilitation. Connor had to regain the energy to do simple tasks, strengthen short term memory, relearn vocabulary, and even how to speak properly.
He learned first-hand that Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) survivors go through physical, mental and emotional changes throughout their recovery. Not only did he face the agonizing pain of being denied the chance to defend his Gold Medal, but Connor also has no memory of competing in his final Olympics – the moment he trained his entire life for.
Connor realized that just like in training, life is not about being perfect or getting everything 100% right. People focus on the last 1% when it’s the 99% that creates champions. It wasn’t the last 1% – a second Olympic Gold – that would make Connor a champion. It was the 99% of who he already was that made him a champion.
After 11 months he was officially fully recovered and cleared to ride again. Determined to not let his final race define 22 years of riding, on day-one he jumped on his bike and rode again to conquer the fear that threatened to keep him off the track. Understandably anxious to hit routine jumps, he took them on and beat the demons that chased him.
In his words: “Don’t let adversity define you.”
Connor continues to ride and coach BMX, no passion for the sport lost to the worst of Olympic scenarios. His story has been featured by the Today Show, Sports Illustrated, and Vanity Fair Magazine. He was part of the Polo Ralph Lauren Sport campaign, has been a guest at the White House, and was nominated for a Nickelodeon Kids Choice Award.
In his presentations, Connor opens the curtains to a rarely seen experience of what it takes to win sport’s greatest prize and overcome extreme adversity. He openly shares with audiences his journey of recovery and self-discovery, and the practical applications of hard-won lessons learned. Through authentic and engaging storytelling, Connor provides real-world strategies for peak performance, inspires resiliency, and motivates audiences towards greater success.
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Speech Topics
Now What?: Handling challenges life throws at you and moving with resilience each time.
In his keynote, “Now What?” Connor Fields answers the question we all face at different moments throughout our lives. We all face challenges that can cause self-doubt in life and work, we all reach pivotal moments, we all get stuck, and Connor equips you with the tools to answer that question and move forward each time. This incredible keynote presentation delves into the crucial powers of resilience, adaptability, overcoming failures, unwavering determination, and perspective, empowering you to face challenges head-on. With compelling personal stories and hard-earned insights, Connor empowers attendees to be ready to answer the question “Now What?” every time.
KEY LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
• Clear Goal Setting Strategies: Once you know what you want to achieve, how do you get there? Connor outlines step-by-step processes to increase the likelihood of reaching your goals.
• Lean Into Resilience: After a failure, what do you do to get better? Connor shares what he learned from failing at the highest level: how to correct mistakes and get them right the next time around.
• Sustain Success: Now that you have won, how do you stay at the top? Be ready to sustain success with insights from someone who stayed in the top 5 World Rankings for over a decade.
• Keep Failure in Perspective: No one wants to fail, but if you are here, you have a chance to fix it. Nearly losing your life and having the world’s attention to see if you would survive changes the way you look at failure. Be able to keep failure in perspective and stay optimistic about the future.
“Gold Medal Moments: Executing When It Matters Most”
Have you ever wondered what goes through an athlete’s mind when they are about to compete in the Olympic final?
The race for all the glory with hundreds of millions of people watching at home.
How do they stay calm? How do they even reach that significant moment in the first place?
Each of us has our version of a “Gold Medal,” and success holds a unique meaning for all. Yet, we can all harness the exact strategies to reach our moment and seize it.
In his keynote, ‘GOLD MEDAL MOMENTS,’ Connor Fields delves into his journey toward Olympic Gold, a path laden with hurdles every step of the way. He shares his true story, filled with adversity, setbacks, and relentless determination. At the heart of his experience is a crucial lesson: the significance of performing at your peak when it matters most.
Despite winning almost every competition along the way, Connor ultimately “choked” in his first Olympic final appearance. He went home with nothing more than a participation certificate. He dedicated the next four years to mastering how to be at his physical best and mentally prepared to execute during that one critical moment if it ever came around again. When it did, he was ready.
Connor shares three strategies you can immediately implement to give yourself the best chance of reaching your Gold Medal Moment and his method for executing in that pivotal moment. The potential for personal growth and increased achievement using these strategies is limitless.
“Redefining Success: It Isn’t Just About Winning”
In this keynote focused on mental health, Connor Fields reveals the challenges many athletes face on their journey to the Olympics, particularly regarding mental health. He shares his struggles with failure, embarrassment, depression, and a crisis of confidence, which almost led him to give up. Despite these obstacles, Connor found the strength to persevere and ultimately triumph at the 2016 Olympics.
In pursuit of his next gold medal in 2021, Connor faced a life-threatening challenge: a traumatic brain injury that nearly ended his life and forced him into retirement. This experience prompted Connor to reflect on the fragility of life and embark on a transformative journey.
It made him question his identity and his next steps, leading to a newfound emphasis on mental health and the realization that success is more than just winning medals. It’s about finding balance, purpose, and inner peace.
Connor’s story serves as a powerful testament to the resilience of the human spirit and a reminder that success goes beyond medals; it’s about perspective and gratitude for what you have rather than focusing on what you don’t.
