TOKYO, Japan (August 6, 2021) – Running a 13:10.09 in the finals of the 5000 meters,
Luis Grijalva set a new personal best and Guatemalan national record as he wrapped up his time at the Tokyo Olympics on Friday morning.
Grijalva placed 12th in the 5K final, his Olympic debut at just 22 years old following a dramatic qualifying process. Having hit the Olympic standard with a 13:13.14 in his second-place finish at the NCAA Outdoor National Championships, Grijalva set his previous personal best less than two months ago.
After grabbing the last qualifying spot on time for the final on Tuesday morning, Grijalva ran within one or two seconds of the lead for the first 4,000 meters of the final. Stringing out into somewhat of a single file run, save for a few runners occasionally moving up in lane two, Friday's 5K final provided a much smoother race compared to Tuesday's first-round heats that each included a fall by a runner.
While the leading pack began to break away with just 800 meters remaining, Grijalva led the remaining runners on his way to resetting his own Guatemalan national record. Moving ahead of his previous record pace at the NCAAs with a 4:45 split at the 1800-meter mark, Grijalva kept up his new record pace throughout the final eight laps of the race.
Grijalva's run concluded the Olympic competition for former Lumberjacks, with Brooke Andersen finishing 10th in the women's hammer throw on Tuesday morning in her own Olympic debut and David McNeill finishing 19th in the first round of the 5000 meters in his third appearance at the Olympics.
