RIO DE JANEIRO _ In the 2012 Olympics, Evan Jager crashed the steeplechase.
He didn't crash in the race, but instead was running in an event that he has just started months earlier.
When he qualified for those Olympics by winning the U.S. trials, it was his fourth-ever try at the 3,000-meter event. Then he surprised the world again with a sixth-place finish.
Jager comes into Wednesday's final in Rio with a completely different approach. Four years ago, Jager was happy to be there. Now, he expects to become the first American man to medal in the event since 1984.
"I know what I'm getting myself into," Jager said. "London was the first time that I had been relatively competitive at all on the world stage so it was different figuring out how to manage my expectations and my emotions going into that big of a stage. My biggest growth has probably come in the last year just mentally being ready, basically in all aspects to be in this position. It has been completely different."
It's different because Jager has struggled to maintain his mental edge in big races since London. At the Paris Diamond League in 2015 Jager was set up for a victory, then stumbled over the final barrier. He got up and would finish second. Then at the world championships in Beijing, Jager faded in the final lap to finish sixth. The dual disappointments caused him re-evaluate his training, more from a mental standpoint than physical.
"I just used up all my mental and emotional energy in the first 2,600 meters," Jager said. "I think that was the biggest thing for me last year. I was the fastest I ever was, so speed was not the problem, it was just the mental game, being able to stay relaxed and not really press from the front."
For Jager, the calmer approach began in his training sessions. It was a gradual change for Jager that didn't really take hold for him until recently.
"I don't know, something just clicked a month or so ago and I was just like _ you don't need to press," Jager said. "I just tried to go out there and relax _ pretend like I was in the race just sitting on someone and not pressing. I was able to run the same splits and run workouts just as well but with ease of mind."
It showed in Jager's preliminary run on Monday, which Jager described as the "perfect" run for him. He was stoic as he stayed in fourth and fifth place most of the race, then by the final couple of hundred meters, he overtook the field to win his heat and qualify ninth overall.
"Going into London, he really didn't know exactly what to do," his father Joel Jager said. "But he said 'I'm just going to go out and run like I think I can run.' He did pretty well. ... I think his expectations may be a little more realistic this time. He knows what he's capable of."
So long as he keeps it together in his head.
