Tim Layden
@bytimlayden.bsky.social
Writer-at-large NBCSports. Typing stories, narrating essays. 25 yrs at Sports Illustrated. Before that: Newsday, 518. 4x BASW. Husband, Dad, Eph. Former Tweeter.
Wrote this about Lindsey Vonn 360 days ago, as her comeback was just picking up steam. Would not change a word today, even with -- or because of? -- the ACL rupture.
February 7, 2026 at 4:08 PM
Wrote this about Lindsey Vonn 360 days ago, as her comeback was just picking up steam. Would not change a word today, even with -- or because of? -- the ACL rupture.
Hate the tone of this, but I'll bite: USA gets 4 spots in the downhill. Vonn was leading the World Cup standings on one *jacked* knee, and the gold medal favorite. Training runs will show where she is now. There are 6 speed skiers on the team.
She’s 41 and both knees are jacked but Team USA doesn’t have anyone else on the roster who can get a better time?
February 5, 2026 at 12:09 AM
Hate the tone of this, but I'll bite: USA gets 4 spots in the downhill. Vonn was leading the World Cup standings on one *jacked* knee, and the gold medal favorite. Training runs will show where she is now. There are 6 speed skiers on the team.
Lindsey Vonn was headed for a miracle Olympics on a partial knee replacement at 41; now she's got a torn ACL in her *other* knee, broken again, swimming upstream against her body. "Where I always seem to be." Story for NBCSports.
www.nbcolympics.com/news/lindsey...
www.nbcolympics.com/news/lindsey...
Lindsey Vonn’s latest Olympic quest isn’t perfect, but it’s her own
Surprised that Lindsey Vonn would still dare race after announcing she ruptured her ACL in her left knee? Here’s why you shouldn’t be.
www.nbcolympics.com
February 3, 2026 at 11:58 PM
Lindsey Vonn was headed for a miracle Olympics on a partial knee replacement at 41; now she's got a torn ACL in her *other* knee, broken again, swimming upstream against her body. "Where I always seem to be." Story for NBCSports.
www.nbcolympics.com/news/lindsey...
www.nbcolympics.com/news/lindsey...
U.S. speed skater Jordan Stolz, 21, will be a star at next month's Olympics in Milan-Cortina. Story for NBC Sports on his unique journey: Giant fish in his boat, tame deer in his basement, and a family lesson: "Don't Fear Anything."
www.nbcsports.com/olympics/new...
www.nbcsports.com/olympics/new...
'Don't fear anything’: Why speed skater Jordan Stolz could be unstoppable at Milan Olympics
Reeling in a 100-pound halibut? Aiming to outrun the world’s fastest man? Trying to become the greatest speed skater of all time? Meet Jordan Stolz, the once-in-a-lifetime athlete you need to know and...
www.nbcsports.com
January 23, 2026 at 10:01 PM
U.S. speed skater Jordan Stolz, 21, will be a star at next month's Olympics in Milan-Cortina. Story for NBC Sports on his unique journey: Giant fish in his boat, tame deer in his basement, and a family lesson: "Don't Fear Anything."
www.nbcsports.com/olympics/new...
www.nbcsports.com/olympics/new...
Aaron Rodgers throwing a football is one of those things in sports.
January 5, 2026 at 4:09 AM
Aaron Rodgers throwing a football is one of those things in sports.
Back to my alma mater: Honored to write in @SINow about @MichaelPhelps receiving SI's Muhammad Ali Legacy Award for his tireless and passionate mental health advocacy. A great Olympian, giving back by sharing his own pain.
www.si.com/sportsperson...
www.si.com/sportsperson...
Michael Phelps Honored With SI’s 2025 Muhammad Ali Legacy Award
A decade after sharing his own painful mental health journey, the Olympic hero has traveled the globe as a beacon of advocacy and support.
www.si.com
December 29, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Back to my alma mater: Honored to write in @SINow about @MichaelPhelps receiving SI's Muhammad Ali Legacy Award for his tireless and passionate mental health advocacy. A great Olympian, giving back by sharing his own pain.
www.si.com/sportsperson...
www.si.com/sportsperson...
Bill Belichick could have been fishing off Nantucket today but no
September 2, 2025 at 2:26 AM
Bill Belichick could have been fishing off Nantucket today but no
Monster paragraph from NYT editorial writer German Lopez. Simple, obvious, powerful, haunting. I could read it 1,000 times, and just might. Perfect. Bravo, man.
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/27/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/27/o...
August 27, 2025 at 11:22 PM
Monster paragraph from NYT editorial writer German Lopez. Simple, obvious, powerful, haunting. I could read it 1,000 times, and just might. Perfect. Bravo, man.
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/27/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/27/o...
Ron Turcotte was strong and dignified. He lived at the very top of his game and then was dealt a terrible blow. And he suffered. Two years he said this to me: “[Secretariat] pops up in my head sometimes. But then I really want to be going back to riding .... and that’s impossible.” Godspeed RT.
August 23, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Ron Turcotte was strong and dignified. He lived at the very top of his game and then was dealt a terrible blow. And he suffered. Two years he said this to me: “[Secretariat] pops up in my head sometimes. But then I really want to be going back to riding .... and that’s impossible.” Godspeed RT.
Godspeed DWL
D. Wayne Lukas retired this week at age 89, and entered hospice care. He was unlike anything racing had ever seen: Audacious, obsessive, unparalleled... determined to find and train fast horses at the expense of nearly everything else in life. One of a kind.
www.nbcsports.com/horse-racing...
www.nbcsports.com/horse-racing...
Legendary Trainer D. Wayne Lukas: Audacious, Obsessed, Unparalleled
In horse racing and beyond, there is no one like D. Wayne Lukas.
www.nbcsports.com
June 29, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Godspeed DWL
D. Wayne Lukas retired this week at age 89, and entered hospice care. He was unlike anything racing had ever seen: Audacious, obsessive, unparalleled... determined to find and train fast horses at the expense of nearly everything else in life. One of a kind.
www.nbcsports.com/horse-racing...
www.nbcsports.com/horse-racing...
Legendary Trainer D. Wayne Lukas: Audacious, Obsessed, Unparalleled
In horse racing and beyond, there is no one like D. Wayne Lukas.
www.nbcsports.com
June 25, 2025 at 2:07 PM
D. Wayne Lukas retired this week at age 89, and entered hospice care. He was unlike anything racing had ever seen: Audacious, obsessive, unparalleled... determined to find and train fast horses at the expense of nearly everything else in life. One of a kind.
www.nbcsports.com/horse-racing...
www.nbcsports.com/horse-racing...
Tomorrow (May 30) is the 50th anniversary of Steve Prefontaine's death. During the 2012 Olympic T&F Trials in Eugene, I went to the site of the crash that killed him and wrote this story. The larger themes are unchanged.
www.si.com/more-sports/...
www.si.com/more-sports/...
Memory of Prefontaine prevalent at trials as Rupp breaks 5,000 record
She was alone there for a few minutes, just looking at the outcropping of charcoal gray rock struck by Steve Prefontaine's sports car on the night of May 30,
www.si.com
May 29, 2025 at 8:22 PM
Tomorrow (May 30) is the 50th anniversary of Steve Prefontaine's death. During the 2012 Olympic T&F Trials in Eugene, I went to the site of the crash that killed him and wrote this story. The larger themes are unchanged.
www.si.com/more-sports/...
www.si.com/more-sports/...
Reposted by Tim Layden
Sovereignty won the Kentucky Derby and put its beleaguered sport in a time machine. Winning trainer Bill Mott back in the mud, like 2019, but "This one was better." Game story from a cold, sloppy Derby 151.
www.nbcsports.com/horse-racing...
www.nbcsports.com/horse-racing...
Sovereignty's Kentucky Derby win helps heal the past and soothe the present
Sovereignty's victory in the 151st Kentucky Derby offered its trainer and jockey a cleansing victory, and the sport, welcomed enjoyment.
www.nbcsports.com
May 4, 2025 at 4:08 AM
Sovereignty won the Kentucky Derby and put its beleaguered sport in a time machine. Winning trainer Bill Mott back in the mud, like 2019, but "This one was better." Game story from a cold, sloppy Derby 151.
www.nbcsports.com/horse-racing...
www.nbcsports.com/horse-racing...
Sovereignty won the Kentucky Derby and put its beleaguered sport in a time machine. Winning trainer Bill Mott back in the mud, like 2019, but "This one was better." Game story from a cold, sloppy Derby 151.
www.nbcsports.com/horse-racing...
www.nbcsports.com/horse-racing...
Sovereignty's Kentucky Derby win helps heal the past and soothe the present
Sovereignty's victory in the 151st Kentucky Derby offered its trainer and jockey a cleansing victory, and the sport, welcomed enjoyment.
www.nbcsports.com
May 4, 2025 at 4:08 AM
Sovereignty won the Kentucky Derby and put its beleaguered sport in a time machine. Winning trainer Bill Mott back in the mud, like 2019, but "This one was better." Game story from a cold, sloppy Derby 151.
www.nbcsports.com/horse-racing...
www.nbcsports.com/horse-racing...
Derby Day repost on this one.
Journalism is not only the Kentucky Derby favorite, he is a modern symbol of resilience, chased from his home by wildfires, only to return, undeterred and unbothered. The name ain't bad, either. My story from Southern California.
www.nbcsports.com/horse-racing...
www.nbcsports.com/horse-racing...
Four months after wildfires, Kentucky Derby favorite Journalism embodies symbol of resilience
Journalism is the favorite in the 151st Kentucky Derby. Four months ago, he and his trainer were displaced by the destructive wildfires in southern California.
www.nbcsports.com
May 3, 2025 at 6:11 PM
Derby Day repost on this one.
Reposted by Tim Layden
Journalism is not only the Kentucky Derby favorite, he is a modern symbol of resilience, chased from his home by wildfires, only to return, undeterred and unbothered. The name ain't bad, either. My story from Southern California.
www.nbcsports.com/horse-racing...
www.nbcsports.com/horse-racing...
Four months after wildfires, Kentucky Derby favorite Journalism embodies symbol of resilience
Journalism is the favorite in the 151st Kentucky Derby. Four months ago, he and his trainer were displaced by the destructive wildfires in southern California.
www.nbcsports.com
May 1, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Journalism is not only the Kentucky Derby favorite, he is a modern symbol of resilience, chased from his home by wildfires, only to return, undeterred and unbothered. The name ain't bad, either. My story from Southern California.
www.nbcsports.com/horse-racing...
www.nbcsports.com/horse-racing...
Reposted by Tim Layden
The best horse racing writing of his generation.
Journalism is not only the Kentucky Derby favorite, he is a modern symbol of resilience, chased from his home by wildfires, only to return, undeterred and unbothered. The name ain't bad, either. My story from Southern California.
www.nbcsports.com/horse-racing...
www.nbcsports.com/horse-racing...
Four months after wildfires, Kentucky Derby favorite Journalism embodies symbol of resilience
Journalism is the favorite in the 151st Kentucky Derby. Four months ago, he and his trainer were displaced by the destructive wildfires in southern California.
www.nbcsports.com
May 1, 2025 at 3:30 PM
The best horse racing writing of his generation.
Journalism is not only the Kentucky Derby favorite, he is a modern symbol of resilience, chased from his home by wildfires, only to return, undeterred and unbothered. The name ain't bad, either. My story from Southern California.
www.nbcsports.com/horse-racing...
www.nbcsports.com/horse-racing...
Four months after wildfires, Kentucky Derby favorite Journalism embodies symbol of resilience
Journalism is the favorite in the 151st Kentucky Derby. Four months ago, he and his trainer were displaced by the destructive wildfires in southern California.
www.nbcsports.com
May 1, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Journalism is not only the Kentucky Derby favorite, he is a modern symbol of resilience, chased from his home by wildfires, only to return, undeterred and unbothered. The name ain't bad, either. My story from Southern California.
www.nbcsports.com/horse-racing...
www.nbcsports.com/horse-racing...
Figure skater Max Naumov lost his parents/coaches in the Jan. plane crash. Now he holds onto the memory of their last minutes together, and remembers his father’s favorite motto: “We Must Fight.”
www.nbcsports.com/olympics/new...
www.nbcsports.com/olympics/new...
"We Must Fight." Figure Skater Max Naumov Hears his Father's Words and Carries On
Max Naumov reflects on his final moments with his parents, and their legacy, two months after their plane crashed over Washington, D.C.
www.nbcsports.com
March 26, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Figure skater Max Naumov lost his parents/coaches in the Jan. plane crash. Now he holds onto the memory of their last minutes together, and remembers his father’s favorite motto: “We Must Fight.”
www.nbcsports.com/olympics/new...
www.nbcsports.com/olympics/new...
I like @washingtonpost.com . I have good friends who work there and do excellent, impassioned journalism. I don't know if I should keep subscribing or reading. And that is a bummer and a measure of Things Going On.
February 27, 2025 at 12:52 AM
I like @washingtonpost.com . I have good friends who work there and do excellent, impassioned journalism. I don't know if I should keep subscribing or reading. And that is a bummer and a measure of Things Going On.
SNL 50 is the best of us
February 17, 2025 at 3:18 AM
SNL 50 is the best of us
Some words about -- and from -- Lindsey Vonn and skiing at age 40 on a partial knee replacement.
www.nbcsports.com/olympics/new...
www.nbcsports.com/olympics/new...
Lindsey Vonn, in uncharted territory on rebuilt knee, racing against time for one last Olympics
"I'm a girl from Minnesota who loves to ski. I realize people might not believe that. Maybe their perception will change after this. I'm not sure. But it really is that simple."
www.nbcsports.com
February 12, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Some words about -- and from -- Lindsey Vonn and skiing at age 40 on a partial knee replacement.
www.nbcsports.com/olympics/new...
www.nbcsports.com/olympics/new...
If Eli Manning gets in, his first thank-you call should be to David Tyree.
February 6, 2025 at 7:59 PM
If Eli Manning gets in, his first thank-you call should be to David Tyree.
Back to the college football beat: The sport has always been top heavy, and creating December/January Madness is a big ask. But it also thrives on outrage, so the current meltdown is on brand. All is well. Column for @NBCSports.
December 23, 2024 at 9:40 PM
Back to the college football beat: The sport has always been top heavy, and creating December/January Madness is a big ask. But it also thrives on outrage, so the current meltdown is on brand. All is well. Column for @NBCSports.
40yo Lindsey Vonn 14th in a World Cup Super-G in St. Moritz. .38 from Top 10, .85 from podium, 4th and 5th in 2 sections, starting w/bib 31 (bad snow). *With a partial knee replacement.* Even if this is her ceiling, it would be right in the hunt for Team USA in Cortina. Pretty amazing.
December 21, 2024 at 3:42 PM
40yo Lindsey Vonn 14th in a World Cup Super-G in St. Moritz. .38 from Top 10, .85 from podium, 4th and 5th in 2 sections, starting w/bib 31 (bad snow). *With a partial knee replacement.* Even if this is her ceiling, it would be right in the hunt for Team USA in Cortina. Pretty amazing.