As a kid, Samuel Abascal loved marveling at his dad's trophy room.
 
It was well-stocked.
 
His papá, José Manuel Abascal, is a track icon in Spain – one of the greatest middle distance runners ever to come out of the Iberian Peninsula.
 
In the early 1980s, José Manuel exploded from the far northern state of Cantabria to claim a stunning sum of victories, records and medals.
 
One of those medals, however, loomed larger than the rest … the one engraved with the five Olympic rings.
 
On August 11, 1984, at Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, José Manuel won Olympic bronze in the 1,500 meters. The only men to beat him that night: legendary Britons Sebastian Coe and Steve Cram, two of the greatest metric milers the world has ever seen.
 
Of the three medalists, José Manuel celebrated with the most vigor immediately after crossing the line.
 
Coe and Cram – the heavy favorites – may have beaten him, but José Manuel had made history. And he knew it.
 
He had just become the first Spaniard ever to win an Olympic medal on the track.
 
Celebrity ensued.
 
José Manuel was named the 1984 Spanish Sportsman of the Year – a title held over the years by the likes of Pau Gasol, Xavi and Rafael Nadal. In 1992, by then retired from professional racing, he served as one of the bearers of the Olympic Flag at the opening ceremony of the Barcelona Games.
 
Four years later, Samuel was born.

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Young Samuel relished being the son of a famous dad. He enjoyed hearing tales of José Manuel's Olympic glory. In soccer-crazed Spain, he emulated his papá and took up track. 

 
When he turned 13, Samuel began training with a group overseen by José Manuel. He hung out with, and learned from, elite athletes such as Zulema Fuentes-Pila, who was an Olympic finalist in Beijing in 2008. It was because of Fuentes-Pila that Samuel took up his now-signature event: the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
 
"I started going over the barriers and training for the water jumps with her," Samuel said. "I thought it was all very cool!"
 
Slowly, however, the thrill of being the son of an Olympian morphed into the pressure of being the son of an Olympian. And as Samuel grew older, that pressure mounted. And mounted. And mounted.
 
"When I was 16 or 17, I began putting a lot of pressure on myself, because that's an age where you kind of start to be defined as an athlete," Samuel said. "Pressure came from the outside, too. People were always telling me: 'Oh, your father was an Olympic medalist … you have to be like him' or 'This is the son of that guy'."
 
The pressure was so much, Samuel began to resent running.
 
"It got to the point where I didn't like it," he said. "I wasn't enjoying it. I asked myself: 'why are you doing this if you don't enjoy it?'"
 
Then … the New World beckoned.
 
"I said to myself: 'let's try somewhere new – new training program, new people, a new running life.'"
 
Samuel found that "new running life" in America. At Eastern Kentucky University.
 
He arrived in Richmond in the summer of 2016, not as an Olympic Prince, but as just another face in the crowd. The third, maybe fourth, best steeplechaser on EKU's roster.
 
It was perfect!

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Samuel went to work. He studied the habits of his two All-American teammates – Jakob Abrahamsen and Jamaine Coleman.
 
"Jakob and Jamaine were very good examples for me," Samuel said. "They showed me that it is possible to get very good if you do the right things. They showed me the importance of eating right, getting enough sleep and training smart."
 
Late in his sophomore year, a breakout came. At the 2018 OVC Outdoor Championships, Samuel took silver in the steeplechase. The only man to beat him:  Jamaine Coleman, who was on a collision course with NCAA runner-up honors. 

 
The next day, with the team title still very much undecided, Samuel delivered a virtuoso performance in the 1,500 meters final, sitting patiently in the middle of the pack before dropping a devastating kick over the final 250 meters to capture his first-ever OVC gold.
 
The gold, which came early on the final day of the meet, galvanized EKU to its first OVC Outdoor title since 1957. And it filled Samuel with a type of pride he had never known.
 
"Before coming here, I didn't know the feeling of being a part of a team," he said. "I was thinking that running was an individual sport, and that there's no team effort; there's no team environment. Coming here made me change because, here, there is a big tradition towards this sport. For me, representing EKU has been a pleasure. Everything I do, I do it by myself. But, at the same time, I have a feeling that I want to do it very well for the school, too."
 
Samuel carried his momentum to regionals. Two weeks later – with a trip to the NCAA Championships and hallowed Hayward Field on the line – he threw down a seven-second steeplechase personal-best of 8:49.1.
 
The thrill of that milestone was short-lived, though. Upon completion of the final heat, an agonizing truth became clear: Samuel was going to be first man left out of nationals. He finished 13^th out of 48 runners that day. The top 12 advanced to Eugene.
 
"It hurt so much because I was really happy with my race, and I was confident that I could make it," Samuel said. "I was in the first heat, and it was a difficult heat. But, I thought I had run well enough to advance. Then, watching the other heats, it made my heart sore. It was so painful to watch those races. I was like, 'Next year … it will be different.'"
 
The pain has proven to be an unparalleled motivator. In March, at the Stanford Invitational in California, Samuel shaved another seven seconds off his steeplechase time, running an 8:42.5 – currently the third-fastest time in the NCAA East Region and the ninth-fastest in the entire country.
 
It was a statement run. It announced, on blast, that he is no longer living in the shadow of his Olympic medalist dad, or in the shadow of his All-American teammates. It announced that, finally, it is Samuel Abascal's time.
 
In early May, Samuel was voted the 2019 OVC Male Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year. Two days later, he captured OVC gold in the steeplechase.
 
Now, once again, he is staring at an opportunity to advance to the NCAA Track and Field Championships. He will race at the NCAA East Preliminaries on Friday, with redemption on his mind.

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Samuel is locked in on Friday's race. Nothing beyond.
 
He brushes off any talk of long-term goals. Many runners dream of making it to the Olympics, like Samuel's papá did 35 years ago. However, considering the tumultuous relationship he has had with the sport, Samuel is just happy being happy.
 
He is in love with the simple joy of racing again, and it shows.
 
"I'm enjoying running again, like I did when I first started," Samuel said. "My mentality now is just going day-by-day and trying to enjoy every race. If I do well, amazing, keep enjoying it and see what happens. I just want to enjoy the present and compete in every race. There's no point of thinking about something that is a year or two from now. I just want to enjoy the now."
 

The "now" includes being a college graduate. Samuel received his degree in international business this month. When his running career is over, he hopes to one day be a sports agent. He also hopes to have more time for his two favorite hobbies: surfing and cooking.
 
Cantabria boasts some of the most fertile surfing waters in Europe. In fact, the highest wave in Spanish history was recorded in Samuel's home state: nearly 86 feet!
 
As a kid, Samuel was an avid surfer. Since moving to America, and shifting his focus to track, he has not had as much time to practice. He calls it a sueño frustrado – a frustrated dream.
 
"I know that when I have the time and energy to do it again, I will," he said. "It's the best feeling I could have. I love surfing."
 
He has taken up cooking more recently, primarily as a means of escape.
 
"I really enjoy making my own food for lunch and dinner, and having that moment just for me, for myself … just forgetting everything else."
 
He makes mostly pasta, salmon, salads … but his specialty?
 
"I make a really great risotto."