LARAMIE, Wyo. – Former Cowboy All-American Mason Finley has recently cemented himself among the best discus throwers in the world, making the final round of the men's discus at the 2016 Olympics and recently earning a bronze medal in the event at the 2017 IAAF World Championships in London. GoWyo.com sat down with the Finley to discuss his eventful year, success on the international stage and Wyoming roots.

The Olympics was my first international competition. I didn't have any experience with competing against the Europeans, who typically dominate the sport. I'm used to being in the U.S., where I'm throwing against guys who throw 62 or 63 meters. In the Olympics, there were guys at 65 and 66 meters. Dealing with the stress of that and trying to get accustomed took me a while. I went to a couple meets overseas before the World Championships this year to see the competition. I was just almost trying to compete through achieving positions instead of a certain distance. It's easier said than done, especially when you're trying to throw as far as you can and get your personal best when you've been doing it for years and years. All the little things matter.

I've been in Europe since July 7, which is the longest I've ever been away from home. For the two weeks until that meet, I had these amazing practices. I was seeing throws going 67 or 68 meters. Usually my practice throws are 65, maybe 66 meters. It just seemed like I was relaxing and getting pumped for the meet. I knew I was capable but I'd never done it in a meet. We were coming into the day and when we went to the warmup field and I was throwing those big throws. My coach said, "we're going to take our first throw and throw 64 or 65 meters and make sure we're in a good spot." That was the plan. Not trying to hit it or anything, but go into each position and get a clean throw. I was able to hit all those positions correctly combined with the adrenaline of the meet, and 65 meters was 67 meters. That was pretty crazy. That was my personal best right off the bat on the first throw of the competition. [The other competitors] were not expecting that from me. 67 meters is a good throw for a lot of these guys. They tightened up and only two guys were able to respond. On my second throw, I was going to try to do the same thing. I saw 68 meters come up on the board and I had this adrenaline rush surge through my chest and my arm!

After the Olympics, I took almost two weeks off. I went back to Colorado to hang out with my dad. When I came back, I started practicing in a different sort of way, doing a lot of bike riding and swimming. Beach sand work, jumps and stuff. Just trying to drop the weight again and work on a little bit of cardio. If you do the same workouts all year round, you get burnt out. There's the fall phase like I just described, and then the winter is the strength phase, and when the spring comes we're thinking about getting ready to compete. 

How did former UW throws coach Paul Barrett contribute to your success?

College athletics wasn't my best time. When I first transferred to Wyoming, I remember being so burnt out. Man, I was just about done with it. It was when I came to Wyoming that Coach Barrett helped me find the love in throwing again. He pretty much brought me back to reality. That's not to say there's a lot of glamor in track and field. You do this for yourself. You've got to love throwing and competing. He just helped me find that again. 

Getting [an international] medal is amazing. I've heard throwers talk about it all the time. I've heard verbatim from throwers – "I'd give away NCAA medals, USA medals for one of those." I feel the same way. It was an amazing step and a huge accomplishment, but it never stops. Now, there's silver and gold. There's that 70-meter mark that every discus thrower tries for – that's the legend status. You get there and you're a different tier. I think it's just going to be in my training and in my diet. The smaller stuff is going to matter more now. We're going to take it under a powerful microscope and see what we can do. 

Theater. It was a big part of my life there, and I haven't had time to do a lot since. I've done a few independent films. I miss working with the professors and doing the student shows and working on it in the classroom. It's something I miss. I'm going to try to audition for some stuff this fall while I have some off-time. I'm going to try to get a speaking role. I miss my teammates a lot. I miss Laramie summers more than anything. The weather there in the summer is like paradise. 

When I was a freshman, the NCAA circuit was intimidating. It's fierce. The advice I would give is to let all that stuff wash past you. Focus on your own trainng and don't worry about what everyone else is doing. Don't worry about points and medals. It's about yourself, your training, your coach, and your teammates. Have fun and love track. Don't make it a business or a burden. If you're going to survive in it, you have to make it fun.