EXCLUSIVE: Rylan Wiens celebrates Olympic bronze medal in Sask.

Before the Olympic Games, Rylan Wiens said he wanted to bring medals back home to Saskatchewan.

Fast forward a month since he left and Wiens has lived up to his goal. He’s brought an Olympic bronze medal to his hometown of Pike Lake, SK.

“To come back here with a medal is amazing and a dream come true,” said Wiens in an exclusive interview with 650 CKOM.

The Pike Lake-born athlete won a bronze medal with his diving partner Nathan Zsombor-Murray in the 10-metre synchronized diving event in the early days of the 2024 Paris Games.

He said it’s tough to remember what exactly happened in the moment the two won the bronze medal as so many emotions were going through their heads.

“You could see by the reactions on our faces that we were pretty nervous. I don’t even remember what happened,” Wiens explained. “There’s pictures of me and Nathan jumping up and down and going absolutely insane together. It’s something that I’ll never remember (fully), but when I look back on it’s something I will never forget.”

When he won the bronze medal, Wiens was surrounded by family and friends – which was a complete 360 compared to what he experienced in Tokyo in 2021 when spectators were barred from the Games because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It was amazing. Honestly, I think my parents and my family was more emotional than I was. I looked up into the stands and saw everyone tearing up,” he explained. “When I went to say hi to them after all the interviews, it was a little bit of waterworks for sure, but it was amazing and super special.”

At the Paris Games, Wiens said on the diving board he felt confident given he had previous Olympic experience already under his belt.

“I was very nervous when I was competing individually and synchro because I knew I had a shot at a medal at these events, but at the same time, I also had three more years of confidence in myself. I think that the confidence I had helped me put together a good (dive) when I needed to,” he said.

After winning his bronze medal, Wiens and Zsombor-Murray were whisked away and had to do five hours of media before being able to see their families and celebrate their milestone.

Once the media was done, Wiens said he was able to hang out with his family away from the athlete’s village for a couple of days before getting ready for the individual 10-metre diving event in the final days of the Games.

In the individual 10-metre event, he finished in seventh place and just off the podium.

Wiens said because he didn’t medal in the individual event he didn’t have to do much media, so he was able to hang out with his family right after that event.

But he added that when people saw him outside of the venue, everyone wanted a picture with him.

“I went out to visit my family just outside the venue and that was when I got mauled by people,” he said. “It was like an hour of people lining up asking to take photos and stuff. By the end of it, I just wanted to go and relax because I was exhausted.”

“It was pretty crazy,” he added.

Outside of winning the medals, Wiens said he got to march in something called the Parade of Champions which showcased all the Olympic medalists to the crowds in Paris.

“We marched in front of the Eiffel Tower down a stage with a whole bunch of fans cheering. That was a pretty cool experience,” he said. “We (myself and Nathan) did a backflip on the stage and the crowd went wild. So that was pretty cool.”

With the Games now over and Wiens’ Olympic dream now a reality, he’s going to take some time away from the pool before deciding what’s next in his life.

“Where I’m at now, I’m taking a couple of months off until after Christmas. And then do a full term of school at the University in kinesiology. And kind of try to live a little bit of a normal life and see what that’s all about. Re-evaluate after Christmas once I’ve had some time to reflect on the Olympics and my journey thus far,” he explained.

“I definitely have the longevity if I want to go for another set of Olympics – I could probably do even two more if I wanted to.  I’m confident I could be in as good of contention for medals as I was for the next one,” Wiens added. “It’s all about how I feel in four months and I’m just going to take some time and see how I feel.”

When it comes to school, Wiens is in his third year of kinesiology. He’s hopeful once he’s finished his degree he’ll be able to get into med school.