Thirty-two is often considered an age when most sprinters retire, but Ronnie Baker is far from finished. After a disappointing 2025 outdoor season where he finished seventh at the USATF Outdoor Championships with 9.92 seconds, Baker returned in 2026 with a renewed mindset. Putting everything into his pursuit of another major moment, the veteran earned a medal at the 2026 USATF Outdoor Championships behind Noah Lyles.

On July 25, in the men’s 100m final at Icahn Stadium, Noah Lyles secured the victory with 9.79 seconds while Ronnie Baker delivered a huge performance to finish second in 9.88 seconds. Kenny Bednarek also clocked 9.88, but Baker edged him out by just 0.005 seconds to claim the silver medal.  Before this, his last notable silver medal came in 2020 at the World Athletics Indoor Tour meeting in Madrid, where he finished second in the men’s 60m behind Christian Coleman.

And soon after the race, Lyles, who knows Baker’s journey well as a fellow elite sprinter, made sure to highlight the moment with the caption, “Amen”. Taking to X, Noah Lyles shared an interview of Baker where he opened up about the difficult period he faced after 2021 and how he found his way back. Speaking about his mindset, Baker said: “I think it’s always been there, man. I honestly do. A lot of people don’t know, but after 21, I went through a really depressive time in my life.”

Baker’s struggles came after he reached the Tokyo 2021 Olympic 100m final and ran a personal best of 9.83 seconds in the semifinal. Despite entering the final as a medal contender, he finished fifth, and the moment he had spent years chasing slipped away.

“And that’s really just because I made track and field my idol and I didn’t have Jesus first. And so for so long, because I had just trained and trained and trained as my first team ever. And I felt like at that time, I kind of deserved it,” Baker explained. But then he started questioning himself. “Like I watched all the guys running against me all the time and beating and getting medals. And I was like, this is my chance. And I feel like that moment kind of slipped away from me.” Baker revealed.

“And so for three years, man, I just wasn’t running fast because I was just picking myself apart. I’m trying to figure out like, why haven’t I got a medal yet? Like why am I not running well when it counts? And it beat me up.” However, Baker said he eventually found a new perspective and returned to competition with a different mindset.

“But I’m in a place now where I just have so much joy. I just, I look forward to getting here to competing because the joy of the Lord is my strength.” He explained that his purpose is no longer only about becoming an Olympic champion or collecting medals. “He’s given me a gift in this track and field thing. And it’s not for me to be an Olympic champion. It’s not for me to be the fastest ever and get a bunch of medals. It’s for me to really enjoy the time that I have here and have joy in it.”

Lyles shared Baker’s message to remind people of another high-level sprinter who faced a tough journey.

Ronnie Baker’s long road back after years of setbacks

Before the misfortunes that befell him, Ronnie Baker was one of the most popular sprinting names in the United States. He had his best season ever in 2018, taking part in a major international programme after running 9.87 seconds. But things got tougher in the years to follow, when injuries started to impact his consistency.

He suffered hamstring and adductor injuries throughout the 2019 season, which kept him out, but he got back on the field at the US Championships, where he placed fifth and was not selected to the World Championships team. The biggest opportunity of his life was, of course, at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Baker has come in as one of the medal contenders, having improved his own time in the semifinal with a 9.83-second record. But he was only fifth place in the Olympic final, missing the medal he had been chasing for years.

But Baker didn’t let that be his story. He started to regain his confidence in 2025, winning the USATF 60m Indoor Championships. He also made his comeback to the world stage with Team USA’s gold-medal-winning 4x100m relay team at the 2025 World Athletics Championships.

That comeback made his 2026 USATF silver medal behind Noah Lyles even more special.