Joseph Fahnbulleh fans in Twin Cities await his next Olympic moment as sprinter for Liberia

Nick Lovas takes off his coaching hat when watching former Hopkins standout sprinter Joe Fahnbulleh, choosing to savor greatness rather than stress about small details.

”He’s always performed well in big meets,” said Lovas, who threw a surprised Fahnbulleh into the 4x100-meter relay anchor role at the 2016 True Team state championship. A freshman then, Fahnbulleh met the challenge and launched a decorated high school career, one of the finest Lovas can recall in 20 years of coaching.

Lovas and his wife, Anna, are watching Fahnbulleh race the 200-meter dash representing Liberia this week and next in Paris as part of the 2024 Summer Olympics. Round 1 is Monday, and the competition continues Aug. 7-8 for qualifying athletes.

The Paris Games mark Fahnbulleh’s second Olympic experience. At age 19, he joined the Liberian national team and made the roster for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. He served as flagbearer in the Opening Ceremony.

”When he chose to run for Liberia, he had his ‘why,’ ” Lovas said. “I think carrying the flag made him realize it’s not about you.”

Fahnbulleh, whose mother, Charlotte, fled war-torn Liberia at age 12 and moved to Minnesota, took the flagbearer responsibility to heart. He remains committed to showing well for his country.

”You have the whole country on your back,” Fahnbulleh told the Fan Arch YouTube channel. “You’re not just running for yourself but for your country.”

Sam Leervig, a former Hopkins runner who handed Fahnbulleh the relay baton for three seasons, said: “He’s put Liberia on the map.”

Fahnbulleh’s run of success started with two state titles in the 200 at Hopkins, dubbed “Track Town MN” by Lovas, and has lasted well beyond his prep days. He ran to an NCAA title with Florida in the 100 and captured a pair of 200 crowns. The second of those individual sprint titles helped the Gators win the 2022 NCAA title. And Fahnbulleh applies a mentality he honed at Florida.

”Coach [Mike] Holloway tells me to be aggressive and violent in the first 10 to 15 meters,” Fahnbulleh told the Fan Arch YouTube channel.

It’s working.

Fahnbulleh has excelled on the international level. He finished fourth in the 200 at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 and then signed to represent ASICS. He qualified for Paris in the 200 as well as securing a place on Liberia’s 4x100 relay team.

Fahnbulleh plans to make more of his Olympics opportunity, on and off the track.

Time spent waiting for his first race has involved Jasmine Moore, another sprinter from Florida; the two have been photographed in Paris arm in arm. Moore is a seven-time NCAA champion representing the United States in the triple jump and long jump, the first woman to qualify for the U.S. in both events. Fahnbulleh told the Associated Press they’ve been a couple since they met three years ago.

“What inspires me about her?” Fahnbulleh said. “Everything. It’s how meticulous she is about how she trains. What she eats. Her attention to detail about everything she does.”

Fahnbulleh planned all along to get out and about in France.

”Tokyo was the COVID Olympics,” Fahnbulleh told the Fan Arch YouTube channel. “This year, I want to see a basketball game, see a volleyball game and I want to go to watch gymnastics and I want to go see tennis. Just being able to freely explore.”

In a full-circle moment, Fahnbulleh will anchor the 4x100 just as he did back in 2016.

”He continues to put himself in great company,” Lovas said “I’m blessed to still be close to him.”