TIMELINE
October 19, 1955
Born in Des Moines, Iowa
1961
Dunlap Elementary
1967-68
Two Dunlap field trips to the Drake Relays, a world-class track and field event, in Des Moines
1968
Moved to the Danbury, Wisconsin area after the sixth grade, near Dairyland
1968
Webster Junior High School (WI)
1970
Webster High School (WI)
1971
Started distance running. Competed in cross country and track. Steve ran 70,256 miles from 1971 through 2019, forty-eight years at 4.01 miles per day.
1974
Graduated with honors from Webster High School (WI)
1975
University of Wisconsin-Superior. Competed in cross country and track.
1976
After reading a free New Testament at the Rothwell Student Center on the UWS campus, Steve became a Christian
1977
Minnesota State University. Competed in cross country and track. In summary, Steve ran at Webster High School (71-73), the University of Wisconsin-Superior (75-76), and finished at powerhouse Minnesota State University (77-78). In 1977, MSU was third at the NCAA Division 2 Cross Country Championships.
1980
BS-Community Health with honors from Minnesota State University
1980
Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green. Steve was a graduate assistant coach for cross country and track. The cross country team finished first in the Ohio Valley Conference with a perfect fifteen points and placed sixth at the NCAA Division 1 Cross Country Championships.
1981
Master of Public Health with honors from Western Kentucky University
1982
Moved to Eugene, Oregon to become USA National Track and Field Club Coach for Athletes in Action
1983
Moved to Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas to become USA National Track and Field Club Coach for Lay Witnesses for Christ
1984
Moved to Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota
1988
4 Winds Christian Athletics started, now 4 WINDS USA. Steve was the USA National Track and Field Club Coach.
1992
Dropped the team to work with track and field athletes on all teams. From 1982 through 1992, Steve was a successful USA National Track and Field Club Coach for Athletes in Action (82-83), Lay Witnesses for Christ (83-88), and 4 Winds Christian Athletics (88-92). Team centers were in Eugene (OR), Dallas-Fort Worth (TX), and Minneapolis-St. Paul (MN). After 1992, 4 WINDS USA dropped the team to work with athletes on all teams.
1996
In 1996, Steve and Liz McConkey were 75 yards from the Olympic bomb in Atlanta. Minutes before the bomb went off, they saw a man with an Army bag. After that, they saw Richard Jewell pushing people back and they stopped going in the direction of where the bomb went off. The FBI interviewed them days later.
1997
While running near Danbury, Wisconsin in the summer of 1997, Steve saw two bears come out of the woods 175 feet in front of him. One chased him into the lake. He went out 20 feet from the shoreline and walked 200 feet as he threw muck at its face. Eventually, a pontoon picked him up.
2003
In 2003, Steve started fighting against the International Olympic Committee’s transgender policies. He was the only person who stood against this publicly. Since then, he has fought against transgender athletes and the transgender surgery-hormone treatments of minors.
2006
Moved the ministry center to Madison, Wisconsin
2008
Before the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Senator Lindsey Graham and Steve fought the Chinese government after news circulated that they were not going to allow Bibles in the Olympic Village. Afterwards, China cleared up the confusion.
2008
Before and during the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, 4 WINDS USA put athlete testimonies into the Chinese underground church of 110 million people. Those athletes won many medals. After their events, they shared the gospel worldwide.
2019
In 2019, Steve asked Rasmussen to do a poll on transgender athletes. It was the first poll that was done on the subject in the United States. At that time, only 28% of Americans were for transgender athletes.
2026
Over the years, Steve had hundreds of worldwide radio, article, and TV interviews. He has worked through eleven Olympics. Besides ministry work, Steve still advises athletes on training. Also, he is a specialist in Christian apologetics. Website is 4WindsUSA.com.
2026
Steve’s first Olympics was in Los Angeles in 1984. The Olympics will be held in 2028 in Los Angeles.