In June, Till Steinforth was back in his home country of Germany to compete in the final World Athletics Combined Events meet before the 2024 Summer Olympics.
After two days, ten events and a new personal best, the Nebraska track and field star finished atop the decathlon leaderboard. Following the event, Steinforth made it known that he had bigger dreams.
“I hope that my development continues like this because in four years I want to be at the Olympic Games,” Steinforth said. “That is my goal.”
But only two weeks later, that goal took a massive step towards becoming an early reality, as the junior qualified as an alternate to represent Germany in the decathlon in Paris.
“After that meet in Germany, it gave me a lot of points because it was a really highly ranked meet and I won it — which was very surprising because I came in ranked like, 15th to 20th,” Steinforth said. “So that really gave me that point push in the world rankings system to then be in contention to make the Olympic team.”
At first Steinforth expressed disappointment in not being chosen outright to represent his country. But, he had little expectation to end up in Paris, so he didn’t let the circumstances bother him.
“I was like, well, at the beginning of the summer, I didn’t really think about going at all.” Steinforth said. “So it was great, I thought, to even be considered.”
As the games inched closer, and his teammates remained healthy, Steinforth began to doubt that his dream came true four years early. He and his girlfriend were planning a trip across Europe that would start three days before the decathlon event — the deadline for an alternate to be called up to compete. But at the last second, his plans changed.
“I pretty much got the call on Tuesday at 1 p.m., and then on Friday at 10 a.m. was the first event,” Steinforth said. “Three days — a pretty quick turnaround.”
Steinforth hopped on a flight to Paris while his parents drove his equipment from their hometown of Magdeburg, Germany, a city some 70 miles west of Berlin. After two days of competing and a quick turnaround, he finished 15th in the decathlon.
“That experience was obviously an amazing experience and I can take so much motivation from that,” Steinforth said. “And just knowing that I’m on that level to compete at the Olympics… I was actually competing with the best in the world.”
Just a few weeks following his time in Paris and a new semester upon him, Steinforth traveled over 4,700 miles to start another year at Nebraska. A talented athlete and a passionate student, he had good reason to choose UNL over anywhere else.
“I wanted a good combination of architecture, school and track,” Steinforth said. “So, from all the offers I had, I had a couple schools that had good architecture schools but not really good track programs, and vice versa. Nebraska was the best combination for me.”
On top of providing him with an academic program that he loves, Nebraska is also where Steinforth found Dusty Jonas, the Huskers’ high jump and multis coach. A former Husker and Olympian himself, Jonas joined the coaching staff full-time in 2018 following 11 seasons as Nebraska’s volunteer high jump coach.
Half of all Big Ten gold medals in the high jump have been won by his athletes since becoming a full-time coach, an undeniable mark of his success. It’s a record that certainly excuses the high standard at which he holds his athletes.
“Losing’s not okay,” Jonas said. “Just trying to make the conference championship shouldn’t be your goal. Setting a higher standard than had maybe been here previously has probably been our biggest motivating factor.”
Jonas’ perception of Steinforth raises no concerns about him being able to reach this high bar.
“Till’s different from most people in about every way you can be different from somebody,” Jonas said. “He’s got an incredible engine in him, is very motivated, is very disciplined in everything he does. People started to see improvement [in Steinforth] quickly, so I think that helps not just him, but any athlete — when you can tangibly see yourself or your group getting better. I think that sets him apart, too, cause he always wants more.”
But what more could Steinforth possibly want? He now holds the school record in both the decathlon and heptathlon. He’s been the Big Ten champion in both decathlon and long jump. He won Nebraska’s Male Athlete of the Year award last year. He’s been a first team Academic All-American twice and has made Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll every semester of his collegiate career.
And you need not be reminded that as of a month and a half ago, he’s an Olympian. That’s not even half of the long list of accomplishments in his incomplete college career, yet he still is striving for more.
“I’ve got two more years to compete for Nebraska, and in those two years I definitely want to become an NCAA champion,” Steinforth said. “It’s something I haven’t done, and I feel like I can do.
“Every year, I’m still developing and getting better.”
Coach Jonas has been working with him for a relatively short time, and he agrees that the improvements that he’s seen in Steinforth are sure to be quickly upped.
“This is our second year together. He made a huge leap in year one, and another nice leap in year two,” Jonas said. “Everything has improved. I don’t know that he has a PR that’s old.”
But Steinforth recognizes that hard work is needed in more than just the sport he’s grown to love — it’s needed in studying a field that he has an unparalleled passion for.
“There’s finishing my bachelor’s this year and then starting my master’s and finishing that after another two years,” Steinforth said. “That’s definitely another goal of mine because I’m really passionate about architecture and track, and I know you can’t do track and field until you’re 50. At some point you get too old to compete, and you have to have a life after that. [Nebraska] really sets me up to do well after track.”
Steinforth is only halfway through competition in college, yet he seems to have lived an entire track career. He’s given himself so much to be motivated on, not only in his academic future, but also in the sport that he clearly loves. For him, the ultimate goal of reaching the Olympics once isn’t enough — it just adds fuel to the fire.
“Competing [in Paris] only makes me even stronger,” Steinforth said. “And knowing I got there already, I feel very confident in four years that I can be at that stage again at an even higher level. It motivates me for this year, too.”
sports@dailynebraskan.com
