Rupp dazzled in U. S. marathon team trials

Distance specialist won debut with sixth- fastest time

Galen Rupp en

LOS ANGELES tered the U. S. Olympic marathon team trials on Saturday with a peculiar disadvantage in race experience. Which is to say he’d never actually run a marathon.

He won the race, covering the 26.2- mile course in 2 hours, 11 minutes, 12 seconds and earning a spot on the U. S. team that will compete at the Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro in August.

Rupp, 29, became the first man since George Young in 1968 to win the trials in a marathon debut, and it was the sixth- fastest time in trials history.

“I had a blast out there,” said Rupp, who won a silver medal in the 10,000 meters at the 2012 Summer Games in London and only recently targeted the marathon as a possible event. “I’m very happy with the way it went. There’s no bigger honor than to be able to represent your country at the Olympics.”

Meb Keflezighi, 40, finished second in 2: 12: 20 to make his fourth U. S. Olympic team. He won a silver medal in the marathon at the 2004 Olympics and is set to become the oldest American marathoner to compete in the Games. Jared Ward, 27, finished third in 2: 13: 00 for his first Olympic berth.

“I was fortunate enough to make it to the end,” Ward said.

On the women’s side, Amy Cragg and Shalane Flanagan ran side by side for most of the race before Cragg pulled away. They met up again after Cragg, 32, had atoned for a fourth- place finish at the 2012 trials with a victory here in 2: 28: 20 and Desiree Linden, 32, a member of the 2012 Olympic team, finished second in 2: 28: 54, followed by a moment of alarm.

Flanagan, 34, reached the finish line about 30 seconds later, then dropped to her knees and was carried to a wheelchair. Moments later, arms wrapped around Cragg, she credited her training partner with having kept her going in the race when exhaustion had set it.

“There was a point where I thought, ‘ I don’t think I can’t do this,’ ” Flanagan said. “She tracked me through it. And sweet baby Jesus!”

The exultation elicited laughter and at the finish line of the course in downtown Los Angeles captured the moment: exhaustion and exhilaration. Resting in a folding chair, Rupp looked like a mix of both.

He is a newcomer to the marathon but a familiar face on the international running scene. Having trained under the watch of legendary marathon runner Alberto Salazar since he was 16, Rupp found his sweet spot in the 10,000 and earned a spot on the 2008 and 2012 U. S. Olympic teams.

Encouraged by his coach to give the marathon a try, he secured a spot in the trials in December with a qualifying time in a half- marathon.

After his victory here, Rupp confirmed he is considering a double — competing in the 10,000 and the marathon, with the events scheduled eight days apart at Rio.

“It’s definitely possible,” he said. “I think it’s definitely doable.”

First formalities: In July, Rupp will have to qualify at the U. S. Olympic track & field trials for a spot in the 10,000 meters, and then USA Track & Field must submit his name for both races to the United States Olympic Committee.

What’s not a formality: The United States Anti- Doping Agency ( USADA) is looking into allegations that Salazar, coach of Nike’s Oregon Project, gave Rupp and other runners banned substances. Rupp and Salazar have denied the charges.

But with the Olympics six months away, the specter of a doping investigation went largely unnoticed.

KIRBY LEE, USA TODAY SPORTS “I had a blast out there,” Galen Rupp said after winning.