From the Voces Oral History Center:
Leonel Manzano is known for his remarkable running style — running at the back of the pack before shooting to the front at the very end.
His life story is remarkable, as well.
Manzano was born in Mexico and moved to Texas at the age of four. He grew up in Marble Falls and started running as a kid, herding sheep with his grandfather.
In middle school, he wanted to run for a team, but, as he told the UT Austin Center for Mexican American Studies, his father saw it as a waste of time.
"During that that time I think I was a kid just wanting to be a part of something. So I was pretty disappointed when my dad was like 'You can't, you should find a job," Manzano said. "Right about then I decided to make a deal with my dad. And the deal was that if he allowed me to join the cross-country team, that I would find work during the summer to help him with household expenses."
Manzano threw himself into running. He was the first to arrive and the last to leave practice, even in the off-season. Seeing his commitment, one of his high school coaches in Marble Falls bought him his first pair of good running shoes.
Manzano medaled nine times in the 4-A division in high school, running medium and long distances. He noticed that one of his coaches graduated from the University of Texas at Austin.
"It was like I was being pulled [there] maybe because I always felt like I could always better the university in certain aspects of running," he said.
In 2004, Manzano came to UT with a full-ride athletic scholarship, joining the Longhorn track and cross-country team as a freshman.
"In terms of training, I was actually the worst guy on the team when I showed up," Manzano said. "It's almost like you hit the reset button and you gotta start all over again."
But Manzano quickly found his footing. In just his freshman year, he was winning meets, beating upperclassmen, and breaking UT records.
Manzano graduated from UT with a Bachelor's in Spanish Language and Literature with a minor in business in 2008. That same year, at the age of 22, he qualified for the USA's Olympic team in the 1500 m race, where he placed 12th.
Four years later, he made the 2012 London Olympic team, running the 1500 m. Again, he was toward the back of the pack.
"I was in about second to last," he said. "I just started thinking about everybody who'd been there. My son was also getting ready to be born, so that was like a really big push for me."
Morocco's Abdalaati Iguider and Manzano both pulled up from the back.
"That's really when I knew that if I pass a few more athletes that I could be in medal contention," Manzano said. "In my mind, I do remember saying a little prayer: 'God, just help me.' And then I made one last final move and then passed a couple more athletes. Then I crossed the line, fell on the ground, exhausted, crying tears of joy cause that's when I knew that I've just become an Olympic medalist."
Manzano won the silver medal in that race.
Manzano continued to compete before retiring in 2019. Nowadays, he coaches runners at the high school and middle school levels in Austin.
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