Galen Rupp Wins His Marathon Debut and Qualifies for Olympics

American distance runner Galen Rupp, who won the Silver Medal in the 10,000 meters in the London Olympics in 2012, was one of 52 marathon rookies who raced in Los Angeles on February 14th in an effort to qualify for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in August. Unlike the other 51, Rupp not only qualified for the Olympics, he won the race.

Rupp finished with a time of 2:11:12. Veteran marathoner Meb Keflezighi, who took Silver in the event in the 2004 Games in Athens, finished second at 2:12:20. Keflezighi is the oldest U.S. Olympic runner ever at age 40. The third spot went to Jared Ward at 2:13:00.

Despite qualifying, Rupp has said that he may or may not run the marathon, depending on how he feels at the games. His primary focus is the 10,000, but he also has run the 5000 meters in the Olympics, with a seventh place finish. The trials for those events are in early July. The U.S. historically has not been strong in these distances, but the team should be much better than usual , whatever combination of events Rupp choses.