Olympic potential realized for Menlo School graduate Maddy Price

“I was one of the very first people she contacted,” Chen said, who said he has consistently kept in touch with Price since graduating Menlo. “I told her, ‘Maddy, I’m so proud of you.’”

Price was selected as one of four runners for the Canadian 4x400 relay team. Unlike the United States where an Olympic spot is gained through a trials process, the Canadian federation uses both the trials and a selection committee to select athletes.

Price was eligible to run for Canada as both her parents held Canadian citizenship. Price held dual Canada and United States citizenship, but when she realized during high school she might have a chance to qualify for the Olympics with Canada, Price made the move and got her Canadian citizenship in order to have the chance to compete for an Olympic berth.

To Chen, Price’s inclusion to the Olympic team was a no-brainer. Having been a member of the 4x400 relay team that broke the Canadian junior national record mere months after graduating Menlo, Price was already a known commodity to the Canadian selection committee. While enjoying her collegiate career at Duke University — during which she was a six-time All-American and team captain her senior year in 2018 — Price continued to make her mark with the Canadian national team. She did not qualify for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics and might not have been able to compete last year as originally scheduled because of a broken foot. The pandemic and subsequent postponement of the Olympics in 2020 allowed Price to properly heal, rehab and train for the games that begin next week.

“I do believe (her selection) is because of who Maddy is. … They know Maddy is a racer. … They know on the big stage, Maddy always comes through in the relay,” Chen said, who begins his 20th season at Menlo with the fall cross country team. “Not only do they know she is a gamer, she is also such a nice person. Her teammates love her. She has great team chemistry. … They know this kid is a very unique individual and I’m sure it was an easy decision for them to make.”

Prior to breaking her foot and subsequent surgery, Price was having a strong 2019 season, running a personal record of 51.56 at the LSU Alumni Gold meet in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in April. Price didn’t race in 2020 because of her injury and the COVID-19 pandemic and has run three times in open 400s this season, with her best of 52.35 coming at the Road to Tokyo Volume II meet in Mannheim, Germany, at the end of June.

Chen can take some of the credit in identifying something special in Price while she was in elementary school. When he finally got her to commit to track — Price was a multisport athlete up through her first two years of high school — her performances really took off.

“I knew (she was something special) in fifth grade,” Chen said. “The real change happened her sophomore year when she committed to only track. The more she ran, the more success she had, the more she enjoyed running.”

Chen said Price’s work ethic proved to him she had the drive to compete at an elite level. Beginning her junior year, Chen devised a workout plan to give Price more higher-level training and she complemented her track workouts with weight training sessions three times a week, working out during her lunch break on the Atherton campus.

“You need strength in order to compete at the higher levels as sprinter,” Chen said. “Maddy was totally committed.”

In 2013, she captured both the 200 and 400 CCS titles with times of 24.30 and 54.78, respectively. She finished sixth in the 400 at the CIF State Meet, clocking a time of 54.94.

She came back the following season stronger and faster. She accomplished her CCS double, winning the 200 and 400 crowns again and in the finals of the 400 at the state meet, finished second with a time of 53.42 — almost a second-and-a-half faster than her 2013 finals time. She also finished fifth in the 200 with a 24.12.

Despite it being seven years since she last competed for Menlo, Price has not forgotten her alma mater. Chen said she came back for 2019 homecoming and during the pandemic met with current Menlo athletes over video conferencing during the lockdown last year.

“She never forgets [where she came from],” Chen said. “She always says she’s lucky to have me in her life. To be honest, it’s the other way around.”