Life has been different for Michigan State track and field athlete Heath Baldwin since his decathlon victory in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials last month to qualify for the Paris Olympics in 2024.

“The week after trials, everything was a little crazy just because there was so much going on and a lot of people trying to talk to me and stuff like that,” Baldwin said. “Really, the only thing that’s changed is all the media stuff and a lot more eyes on me I think."

While life off the track has certainly taken a turn given the attention he’s received for qualifying for the Olympics, life on the track is pretty similar for Baldwin.

“It’s been about the same,” Baldwin said when asked if training has been different post-trials. “I spent the week after the decathlon recovering. And then we’ve had this past week and this week to really hit it pretty hard in training and get a good training base going into Paris.”

Heading into the final event (1,500 meters) of the decathlon in Eugene, Oregon, Baldwin knew he had an Olympic qualifying spot in the bag. He just had to finish the race.

“It was just a crazy feeling coming through the line,” he said. “I saw my mom and my family were standing right there. So, I got to hug them and talk to them for a little bit.”

It didn’t sink in for Baldwin right away that he was an Olympian. He had just set a new personal best in the decathlon and sealed his spot in his first Olympics, but it took a few days for it to truly set in that he was going to Paris.

“I think when I got back to Lansing,” Baldwin said about when it set in. “I was just sitting in my room and I was like, ‘Oh, yeah, I’m actually going to the Olympics. That’s pretty wild.’ So yeah, I think it took a couple of days. Once I got back here and then started getting back into training on the track, everything started to feel a little more real.”

While he did set personal bests in several events, including shot put, 400 meters and discus throw, Baldwin feels that he left points on the board and has room to improve.

“I feel like a lot of things went well, but I don’t think that it was a perfect decathlon by any means,” Baldwin said about his performance at trials. “I feel like I was expecting to do better in a couple events like long jump and the 100 (meters). I don’t think everything went perfect for me. I felt like it was a good meet and I executed well, but definitely wasn’t the meet of my life out there.”