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Tegenkamp, Dobson also punch tickets to Beijing
By Parker Morse, Running USA wire
EUGENE, Ore. - (June 30, 2008) - Bernard Lagat and Matt Tegenkamp, the first and fourth place finishers at last summer's World Championships 5000 meter final, earned their spots on the U.S. Olympic Team Monday evening here at the University of Oregon's Hayward Field. The duo will be joined by former Stanford standout Ian Dobson of Team Running USA, who like Tegenkamp will be running in his first Olympic Games.
Before the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Track and Field even got started, track watchers were pointing to the men's 5000m final as the race to watch. Lagat and Tegenkamp would be joined by 2000 Trials champion Adam Goucher, NCAA champion Bobby Curtis and former NCAA champions Chris Solinsky and Jonathon Riley (both training partners of Tegenkamp).
With all that horsepower in the field, the chance of an electrifying race was almost balanced by a chance that the major players would spend the race jogging and eyeing each other warily before sprinting the last lap. Recent Colorado graduate Brent Vaughn, however, pushed to the front before the race was even 200 meters old and opened a four second gap before he reached the 400 meter mark.
Vaughn, who claimed after the race that he "had nothing to lose," explained that "I didn't want to let the guys just jog a 5K...I thought maybe I could steal it."
Vaughn's ability to maintain his pace didn't match his audacity, however, and after he knocked off the first kilometer in a manageable 2:41, Bolota Asmerom led the pack in reeling Vaughn back in. When he was absorbed again at 2000m (5:26), the weight of the pace fell squarely on the shoulders of Goucher. With his wife Kara already on the team by virtue of her second place finish in the 10,000m on Friday evening, Goucher was looking to book his ticket, but unlike the other contenders lacked an Olympic "A" qualifying mark. Goucher needed the pace to be sharp, and to finish faster than 13:21.50, so he took the lead and tried to push it himself.
Goucher's effort would be futile as well. "I thought the pace might do it. I figured I could close with a 4:08 mile. But as we went along, I realized I was 4 or 5 seconds down, and it wasn't happening," said Goucher.
When Chris Solinsky took the lead with a kilometer remaining, Goucher shut down and jogged off the track. "[Coach] Alberto [Salazar] waved me off with two laps to go. He was probably waving me off earlier, but I couldn't hear him."
Solinsky thinned the pack to six: himself, Tegenkamp, Dobson, Asmerom, Lagat and Curtis. At the bell, it was increasingly obvious that Solinsky's possession of the lead existed only at the will of Lagat, and when the World champion finally turned on the jets with 200 meters remaining, the race for the win was over. Lagat won Olympic bronze and silver medals for Kenya at 1500m in 2000 and 2004, respectively, and that speed remains with him. He finished in 13:27.47, and the announcer dutifully reminded the crowd that Steve Prefontaine's Trials record of 13:22.8 from 1972 at Hayward still stood.
In the scramble for spots behind Lagat, Tegenkamp immediately took control. Solinsky struggled to hang on, but found Asmerom passing him by first, and then, quicker, Dobson. Tegenkamp was next to the line in 13:29.68, and Dobson closing on him with 13:29.76. Solinsky wound up fifth.
"I have a hunger to get the gold again for the U.S. this year, like I did last year in Osaka, only this time in the Olympics," said Lagat who announced in a Tuesday press conference that if he earns a spot in the 1500m, where he is also the defending World champion, he intends to contest both in Beijing.
"It was the best possible outcome given the conditions," said Tegenkamp, crediting his coach Jerry Schumacher. "We stuck to the big picture. Our goal since '04 was to stick to the plan and it came out exactly as we wanted it."
For Dobson, it was a dream come true, "I'm really happy. This is just overwhelming. I have such a great coach [Terrence Mahon] who has invested a lot in me and it feels so good to make him proud."
U.S. Men's Olympic Trials 5000m - Eugene, OR, Monday, June 30, 2008
1) Bernard Lagat (AZ), 13:27.47
2) Matt Tegenkamp (WI), 13:29.68
3) Ian Dobson (CA), 13:29.76
4) Bolota Asmerom (OR), 13:31.24
5) Chris Solinsky (WI), 13:32.17
6) Bobby Curtis (PA), 13:35.00
7) Stephen Pifer (CO), 13:37.46
8) Matt Gabrielson (MN), 13:38.06
9) Brent Vaughn (CO), 13:39.15
10) Thomas Morgan (NC), 13:47.76
Complete Olympic Trials results and more at: .
Ryan Lamppa, Running USA Media Director
(805) 696-6232; Fax = (805) 659-0016
Ryan@RunningUSA.org
www.RunningUSA.org.
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