There’s a moment each week where Leo Drossos-Thompson can barely stand. It’s usually after interval training on Tuesdays at the Pettit National Ice Center, where he pushes the limits of his top speed for minutes at a time.
“I’ve thrown up twice after interval workouts,” Drossos-Thompson says. “After you do your sets of laps, your legs are shot. If you sit down, you’re not going to get up for about 10 minutes. But after you rethink your life decisions for a bit, you’re ready for the next set.”
This kind of sacrifice is commonplace for Drossos-Thompson, a freshman economics major in the College of Business Administration and one of the top speedskaters for his age in the country. He won his age group in the national long track speed skating championship as a high school senior and is on the 2025 U.S. Junior World Cup team.
Marquette made sense for Drossos-Thompson because of its proximity to the Pettit, home to one of just two long track indoor speedskating rinks in the country. It’s just over an hour’s drive from his home rink in Northbrook, Illinois, where coaches knew early on that he was destined for big things.
“Leo possesses the important ability to see the big picture, which allows him to maintain the motivation needed to compete at the elite levels,” says coach Cynthia Chou, president of the Northbrook Speed Skating Club. “He is disciplined in his goal setting and perseveres consistently through struggle.”
Discipline is a prerequisite for balancing academics and speedskating. In February, Drossos-Thompson spent two weeks competing at the Long Track Junior World Championships in Collalbo, Italy, an ambition he would not have been able to fulfill without professors making accommodations for his competition schedule. That flexibility is one of the biggest reasons he’s happy he chose Marquette.
“My professors are very helpful,” Drossos-Thompson says. “I’m able to do my homework on the road and they work with me to make sure I can still have a good class experience. They know that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I’m thankful for that.”
There are bigger goals on the horizon. While the upcoming trials for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan are probably out of reach, trials for the 2030 Olympics are a possibility. Drossos-Thompson hopes to use his college years to hone his technique at the Petitt in anticipation of making a push for those Olympic Games. It’s why he skates for three hours every day after his classes, constantly refining his technique for the next weekend’s competition.
When he’s not skating, Drossos-Thompson is studying economics, which provides a different kind of challenge.
“I took economics in high school and struggled with it, but I kind of enjoyed the struggle, so it seemed like a cool topic to go forward with,” Drossos-Thompson says.
More than anything else, Drossos-Thompson is driven by a desire to make the people who support him proud, particularly the younger skaters at his club in Northbrook.
“There are a lot of people who look up to me and having that dynamic in place makes me keep going,” Drossos-Thompson says. “People will text me that they’re watching my race and that encourages me.”
