Almon Gunter: the conversation

Mornings in the Lab · Interview transcript

There's a version of your life where you stay. You keep the title, the money, the thing everyone knows you for. Something in you knows though, staying isn't the same as building. And you've been thinking about that more than you admit. The question isn't whether you could keep going, it's whether keeping going is still growing. Almon was the 13th fastest man in the world, a Nike athlete, competed in 15 countries, then he walked away. Before that, they told him he was done. Torn hamstring at 22. Doctors said he'd never sprint again. Two months later, he ran his personal best. That comeback carried him to two Olympic trials, seven Olympic stadiums, and a peak in Stockholm most sprinters never reach. At the height of it, he chose to stop. He walked away while the world was still watching. He moved to Jacksonville, Florida, and spent 27 years building a business on nothing but word of mouth. Before the Heisman, Derrick Henry kept tripping over his own feet during shuttle runs. Almon trained him at Yulee, Florida. He trained Carli Lloyd's speed before she won Olympic gold. Fortune 500 executives at companies like Thomson Reuters. Then one night at 3:00 a.m., he decided the root of crime is that people don't love themselves. He started Operation Love Letter. He's written six books. He just launched a course called Sportsmanship Game of Life. If you've ever wondered what it looks like when someone stops staying and finally starts building, that's today's conversation. Please welcome Almon Gunter to the big show.