Rupp wins second straight marathon trials

ATLANTA » Galen Rupp, Aliphine Tuliamuk and America’s other top distance runners have claimed their spots on the U.S. Olympic marathon team.

That’s only half the battle. Now they have to wait to see if the Tokyo Games will be held.

Rupp reclaimed his status as the nation’s top distance runner Feb. 29, winning his second straight U.S. marathon trials and earning a spot for an Olympics shadowed by a global virus.

“I’ve always been someone who says you can control what you can control,” Rupp said, adding the impact of the coronavirus on the Olympics is “a decision that’s way above myself.

“I’ll let the proper authorities or governing bodies deal with that when it comes. Right now I think all of us are just real excited to make the team and be representing Team USA.”

The trials were run amid the uncertainty about the Olympics. IOC member Dick Pound said this week there is a window of two to three months to decide if conditions are too dangerous to hold the Olympics in Tokyo.

Rupp pulled away in the final miles for a dominant victory. Carrying a U.S. flag in his right hand, Rupp was all alone as he crossed the finish line, almost 43 seconds ahead of Jacob Riley. Abdi Abdirahman also earned a spot on the U.S. team by finishing third.

Tuliamuk edged Molly Seidel by seven seconds in the closest women’s finish in the trials. Seidel became the first woman to make the U.S. Olympics team while running in her first marathon. Sally Kipyego was third.

Tuliamuk and Kipyego are from Kenya and have become U.S. citizens.