Lomong Earns Second Olympic Berth; Finishes Third in 5K
/ June 28, 2012
Photo by PrettySporty/Cheryl Treworgy
EUGENE, Ore. – Lopez Lomong qualified for the London Olympics with a third-place finish in the 5,000 meters at the USA Track and Field Trials Thursday night. Lomong finished behind Galen Rupp, who won in a USA Trials-record 13:22.67 to break Steve Prefontaine's 1972 meet record, and Bernard Lagat (13:22.82) with a time of 13:24.47.
"Well, I was third, It was a good race, and it was a little heart-breaking to not make the 1500," said Lomong. "This is the second team I've made with Bernard, and it's so nice for him to come back to the Olympics, and I feel so blessed to be his teammate again. I'm always pushing and challenging myself to see what I do. There's more challenges to come, and I'm prepared to wear the U.S. on my chest and bring it down."
He will compete in his second consecutive Olympic Games after reaching the semifinals of the 1,500 meters in Beijing and serving as the flag bearer for the United States at the Opening Ceremonies.
"Watching the race there were four guys with the "A" standard, I thought he ran it perfectly," said Director of Track and Field Eric Heins. "He needed to finish in the top three and it was about winning the race for all three. He had himself in the position to win it with 200 to go."
Lomong joins David McNeill (Australia, 5,000m) and Diego Estrada (Mexico, 10,000m) among the London qualifiers who ran at NAU.
"It is exciting for Lopez and for NAU to have three athletes going to the Games with connections to NAU," said Heins.
| Record |
Tag |
Time |
Athlete |
Affiliation |
Date |
| World |
W |
12:37.35 |
Kenenisa Bekele |
ETH |
May 31 2004 |
| American |
A |
12:53.60 |
Bernard Lagat |
Nike |
July 22 2011 |
| Meet |
M |
13:22.80 |
Steve Prefontaine |
Oregon |
July 9 1972 |
| OG A |
|
13:20.00 |
|
|
|
| Place |
Athlete Name |
Affiliation |
Time |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1 |
Galen Rupp 
|
Nike |
13:22.67 |
|
M |
|
|
|
|
|
| 2 |
Bernard Lagat
|
Nike |
13:22.82 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 3 |
Lopez Lomong
|
Nike |
13:24.47 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 4 |
Andrew Bumbalough |
Nike |
13:26.67 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 5 |
Ryan Hill |
North Carolina State |
13:27.49 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 6 |
Benjamin True |
Saucony |
13:28.02 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 7 |
Elliott Heath |
Stanford |
13:28.20 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 8 |
Hassan Mead |
Minnesota |
13:30.21 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 9 |
Scott Bauhs |
Unattached |
13:31.69 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 10 |
Mohamed Trafeh |
Nike |
13:36.19 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 11 |
Trevor Dunbar |
Oregon |
13:40.66 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 12 |
Robert Cheseret |
Unattached |
13:50.39 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 13 |
Brent Vaughn |
Nike |
13:51.49 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 14 |
Ian Dobson |
Nike / Oregon TC Elite |
13:51.77 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 15 |
George Alex |
Oklahoma |
13:57.15 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 16 |
Brandon Bethke |
Unattached |
14:03.37 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
