An Iola fifth-grade athlete is taking the local track and field community by storm after qualifying for the Junior Olympics nationals in discus and shotput.
After just over a year of competing, 12-year-old Brady Thomas punched his ticket to the national tournament in both events and has plenty of room to improve before the Junior Olympics meet in Des Moines, Iowa, in August.
“He started throwing, and he was throwing good, so I thought ‘Let’s throw him in the Iola Youth Track Meet and see what happens,’” said Brandon Thomas, Brady’s father.
“He did well there, and when his brother Ty was practicing for his eighth-grade year, Brady was out there throwing in the 70s. I said to him ‘That will win a seventh-grade meet and you’re a fifth-grader. Maybe we might need to look into getting you into some track meets this summer.’”
Thomas’ foray into track and field began after seeing his brother Ty’s success in middle school athletics.
The Iola Youth Track Meet, which is sponsored byIola Middle School, opens the door to all young athletes, including those in elementary school.
Despite competing against sixth-grade athletes, the then fourth-grader took first, and not by a slim margin.
“He beat the sixth-graders from Humboldt, and got second in Iola. The guy that beat him in Iola only out threw him by a couple of feet. I thought, maybe he has this thing figured out.”
Brady’s personal record throw of 92’ 5” in the discus currently ranks him ninth in the nation. However, even that distance is a bit misleading. Although among the best in the country, Thomas still throws from a power position or a beginner’s position. Thomas recently began working with Iola Middle School coach Kinzye Fick, which could add another 20 or 30 feet to his throw.
“All of the other guys, who are top throwers, spin and have the full spin down,” Thomas said. “I don’t know how to teach that, so we just got the power position down and figured by the time he got to middle school someone could teach him. The top throw is 106. He’s only 14 feet from the top thrower, and that is a guy from Baltimore, Maryland and has a refined spin.”
Thomas seems to be a phenomenon in the area youth track and field community. In a span of three months, he racked up several gold medals, a silver medal and recently fourth place at the AAU Regional. Those wins included first place at the Girard Warriors Youth Track Meet, the Iola Youth Track Meet and the June 13 AAU Missouri Valley District Qualifier while hitting his PR. With many of the athletes he competes against coming from track families, and competing since they were toddlers, Thomas said opponents are often confused when they learn 2026 is essentially his first full season.
“Usually, it’s shock, they say ‘Really?’” Brady Thomas said.
Both Brady and Brandon attribute his sudden success to a mantra of keeping everything simple. If Brady has a solid warm-up throw, he doesn’t over complicate himself with another. By staying mentally locked in, and clearing his mind of distractions, he often does not recall specifics of a meet until long after the end of the competition.”
“When I throw, I don’t think; I just do it to get it over with,” Thomas said. “When I get back, I start processing what happened. If you ask me what I tried to do at a meet, I’ll say, ‘I don’t know. I was just throwing. I’m just trying to launch it and keep it in bounds.’”
For Brady, making the Junior Olympics nationals is only the beginning. He admits discus is his best event but will continue developing his skills in shotput and javelin as he progresses. He still has a long way to go before he completes his journey. Considering where he started, the only limit to his potential is himself.
“I still can’t process everything because it’s been a month total,” Brady Thomas said. “That’s a long time, but I’m still trying to process, and it blurs together. They were all big track meets, where the best in the country come.”
