Rachel Gearing

Hometown Hopscotch

Rachel's Penn State bio lists Cleveland (population 3,514) as her hometown. "I think people don't know how to spell Sautee Nachoochie," she said of the place she was really raised, population 332. Then sometimes she tells people she's from Helen (population 578) on the Chatahoochie River because they're familiar with it as the home of Cool River Tubing, a popular spot where she worked many summers. "If you live in Georgia," she said, "you have to do it at least once."

"Are you Ready for This?"

That's what Rachel said when asked if anyone else in her family played sports in college. Her late father, Bill, was a boxer at Penn State, where her mother, Jeannette, played field hockey - although not at the same time. And all six of her siblings have competed at the college level: Kaitlyn in the multis at Lee-McRae in North Carolina, Will in soccer at Young Harris, Jenna in track at Clemson and Kentucky, Ellie in basketball at Berry, Lily in soccer at UGA and Cole at Berry, where he throws the javelin. "Growing up, we created a lot of outside games; we were always running around chasing each other and I think that's a huge reason we all just gravitated toward athletics. That and farm work, which is the best way to build strength. My mom was really adamant about getting us all into sports, but we struggled in 2008, and we couldn't always afford it with seven kids so we just kind of had to play with each other."

Sister Act

Rachel's older sister Jenna was a top Georgia high school runner at 1,600m/3,200m/cross country, which is why Rachel gravitated toward the jumps. "Jenna was famous in Georgia," she said. "I figured, 'distance is Jenna's thing. I want to do my own thing,' and I fell in love with the long and triple jump." She loved the multi, too, even though a knee injury kept her from ever competing in the discipline. Being told that she had cartilage damage and would need surgery with nine months of recovery if she wanted to keep jumping is what briefly turned her to the sprints and eventually led her to middle distance. "I went through every event group until I found the one that stuck," she said of the 800m.

Sister Act, Next Chapter

When Rachel was in her fifth year at Penn State and Jenna was doing a sixth year at Kentucky, they both raced at 800 (in separate heats, it turned out) in the first round of the 2022 NCAA East Regionals. Beforehand, Jenna wrote Rachel "a whole scripted race plan. When my coach asked me what I was going to do for the race, I said, 'I've got it typed out right here.'" After reading it, he asked for Jenna's number. She's now director of operations for the Nittany Lions track and field team as well as an assistant coach. In 2023, the sisters lived together in State College, and Jenna helped Rachel train for the Olympic Trials. "I'm super grateful to her," said Rachel, "because she basically gave me my whole career."

Breaking 2

One of Rachel's brothers got married just three days after the Trials, so she flew straight back to Georgia for family time and basically took two weeks off. Still being coached by Foster during her transition to Atlanta Track Club Elite, she begged him not to make her do the Holloway Pro Classic on July 19 because she felt so unprepared. But she went and, in her debut wearing the Winged A of Atlanta Track Club, ran 1:59.50 to break the 2-minute barrier for the first time. "It's a really big blessing to come to the 800 as late as I did, because it always gives me a sense of not being finished. Ever race is a new learning experience, and I really have a lot of room to grow."

The Coveted Peachtree T-Shirt

When they were younger, Rachel's parents lived in Woodstock, GA, for a number of years and her father was a regular in the AJC Peachtree Road Race. It was a connection she never put together until she'd committed to Atlanta Track Club. "It was a fun little link," she said. "I have all of my dad's vintage shirts going back to the '80s and '90s." Bill Gearing passed away when Rachel was a freshman at his alma mater. "When I was there, I could still go back into Rec Hall and see his picture on the wall, boxing. It was really cool to go to school where he went."

How She Knows When She's Ready to Race

Based on the circumstances of her 1:59.50 breakthrough, "when I feel not ready to race, when I'm scared out of my mind and feel like nothing I've done is going to prepare me for what's about to happen. When I'm afraid of the pace, I feel undertrained and everything is out of alignment, I know that's when it's going to connect. I know that sounds insane, because a lot of people have to have a strict regiment, but disorder is where I find my comfort, maybe because of how I grew up. Once you drop all the expectations and the rituals that athletes tend to get into, it's pressure-less."