Ronnie Baker — the standout sprinter from TCU, who as a Horned Frog became a two-time national champion in the 60 meters and a 12-time All-American — could have gone anywhere after graduating with his kinesiology degree in 2016. But the Louisville, Kentucky, native opted to stay in Fort Worth, remaining on campus to train with his college coach and launch his professional athletic career.
Baker has garnered numerous accolades ever since — among them, clocking in at 6.40 seconds in the 60 meters in 2018 to become the event’s third-fastest man in history.
But an even bigger achievement has yet to be attained. Now, at 27, Baker can call himself a part of Team USA, heading to Tokyo in July to compete in his first-ever Olympic Games.
While making it to the Olympics is an achievement in and of itself, Baker is more than just happy to be there. He sat down with Fort Worth Magazine to talk about what's been keeping him grounded — and focused on the gold.
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity. Watch the complete interview in the video above.
FW: Describe your feelings right now, because I can just imagine how surreal this is.
RB: I don't think it's really hit me yet, being an Olympian. I think it will later on, but for me, I had always expected to be there. I work my butt off everyday expecting that I'm going to be on that team, expecting that I'm going to win a gold medal, expecting that, believing, speaking that.
And so, when it happened, I was like, “I knew this was going to happen.” With all the work I've done and the faith that I have in Christ to see me through in that moment, I had no question that I was going to be on that team.
So, the mountain of like, “Yes, I'm an Olympian” ... I don't think that's going to hit me until later on.
Courtesy of TCU Athletics
Ronnie Baker competed on TCU's track team from 2013 – 2016.
FW: Your home is Fort Worth, and your coach is still Darryl Anderson, your coach at TCU. What made you want to stay here?
RB: I absolutely love Fort Worth. I haven't lived in too many places. I’ve lived in Alaska, which was great for a while when I was younger. Don’t want to go back there because I’m not a fan of the cold weather. Nothing against Alaska — just don't like cold.
I stayed [in Fort Worth] because of my coach. I had grown so much as a collegiate athlete from when I came in, to being able to cross over into professional ranks, and all of that is due to the coaching that Darryl Anderson has given me over the last nine years. There’s no way that I'm leaving him ever. That’s out of the question. It’s not going to happen. You can forget about it. I will be with Darryl Anderson till the end of my career.
He’s gotten me from running 10.8s to 9.8s, and over the course of these years, he’s coached someone who’s the third-fastest man ever in the 60, won two national titles at TCU, won a national title in 2017 indoors, bronze medalist in 2018, now an Olympian. That guy's amazing, and he is a guru when it comes to sprints — so, yeah, that's why I've stuck around Fort Worth because he’s got me to where I am now.
FW: I did also want to ask too, because you are very open about your faith — one of the things you had mentioned before was, it seemed like the road to get here had a lot of spiritual battles. How would you say your faith has grown through this whole experience?
RB: 2018 was the year that I had run phenomenally; it was a great year for me. But I also, in that year, was going through some stuff … I was in a relationship that ended, and then I started to go to church a little bit more, and I was just kind of figuring myself out. A lot of people that I went to school with weren't around anymore, so I was a little bit alone as far as what I did on a day-to-day basis. I was kind of just doing my own thing. So, 2018 was a turning point, and then 2019 is when I got hurt. I got injured. I actually did not compete all that year, so it was a time where I was just trying to get healthy, and that can take a toll on you mentally.
I got a relationship with God, which was a big thing for me, actually developing a relationship. A relationship with anyone, you have to keep connection, you have to keep communication, right? If you want to have a solid relationship with someone you’re dating, you talk to them everyday. If you go two or three days without talking to the person that you’re dating, there’s an issue. You’re going to be freaking out like, “Why is he not texting me? What's going on?”
I realized that I needed to strengthen my relationship with Christ in 2019. When I wasn’t running, wasn’t competing, wasn’t going overseas, that was a really good time for me to do that. I just got really close with Him.
Here in 2021, I made the Olympic team, so it just comes with faith and patience, understanding that I’m going to go and put in all the work that I need to do, and I'm going to leave the results to Him.
FW: Now, where do you go from here? What's the schedule between now and Tokyo?
RB: We leave for Tokyo on July 24, and we’ll get there on the 25th. From now until then, it’s just getting sharper as far as racing. We’re probably going to go and do a couple of meets overseas. Out of that whole field that ran in the 100-meter final of the Olympic trials, I was the most fresh, meaning I had the least amount of races between all of them. I’d only competed three times before that meet. That’s exciting because the more races that I do, the sharper I’ll be. I’ll do a couple races leading up until Tokyo, then after that, it’s go time.
FW: How do you find that balance between being, of course, excited to be in the Olympics and also realizing, “I’ve got to put the work in, and I also want the gold medal”?
RB: There’s a scripture that I quote. It's Ephesians 3:20. It says that God is able to do above and beyond anything we can ask, think, or imagine. So, if I can imagine breaking a world record, if I can do that, if I can run 6.40 and be the third-fastest man ever — yeah, it's a great accomplishment, but what else can God do? Because that’s what the scripture says.
So, for me, I’m always like, yes, [I’m] excited, but what’s the next step? How can we get more? How can we move forward? How can we just do something that’s going to blow everyone's minds? That’s always been my mantra. I never really have to really refocus. It’s just always been how I am.
