Abdirahman Gets His Third Set of USAs on Independence Day – Rupp, Torres also make Olympic team at 10,000 meters – By Parker Morse, Running USA wire

EUGENE, Ore. – (July 4, 2008) – Abdi Abdirahman won the men's 10,000 meters on Friday the Fourth at the U.S. Olympic Trials in 27:41.89, then took off on a victory lap which might have been one of the quickest yet seen at this Trials. Abdirahman's 26th lap included an airplane run reminiscent of Vanderlei Lima's entrance to the Olympic Stadium in 2004, and a detour through the steeplechase water obstacle.

Abdirahman, 31, will be joined in Beijing by Oregon junior Galen Rupp and Jorge Torres, who joined the multi-time U.S. champion in a three-person breakaway halfway through the race.

Abdirahman controlled the pace from the start, and raised many hopes when the Arizona grad set it fast enough to pull those without an Olympic "A" standard (27.50.00) to that time. His first kilometer was reached in 2:48.51, and at that point Abdi began the long series of surges he intended to use to break up the pack. He was followed initially by Fasil Bizuneh, one of those who needed an "A" to go to Beijing, but Bizuneh was unable to hang on when Abdi, Torres and Rupp broke away shortly before passing the halfway mark in 13:49.53.

With all three in the breakaway having "A" qualifiers coming in, most of the suspense of team selection was removed from the race at that point, with the only questions being the order of finish and whether the chase pack would be able to organize an effort to bring reel in the leading three.

They very nearly did, as James Carney, Josh Rohatinsky, Dathan Ritzenhein (who already had an Olympic berth on the marathon team), Ed Moran and Adam Goucher all at some point took a turn in front of the chase pack. The pursuers remained within 100 meters of the three leaders until the closing laps.

"I told the guys we had to get it going or it wasn't going to happen," said Carney. "At that point [about 7500m] we weren't losing any ground. I figured if we pumped in some 64s, we could maybe get them. I tried to wave Goucher around to help me and take a couple of laps."

"There were a couple of laps where I was thinking we would get them," agreed Rohatinsky. "They weren't gaining on us. You always gotta think there's a chance."

It was Rupp who initiated the endgame, moving around Abdi and taking the lead for the first time with two laps remaining. The Hayward crowd roared their approval immediately, but Abdi covered the move immediately. The pair put some distance on Torres, but Abdi was not yet fully extended and was able to pull away from Rupp in the last lap. Rupp did not go easily, but could not close on Abdi in the homestretch. The Somalian-born Abdi finished in 27:41.89, with Rupp in 27:43.11 and Torres coming in at 27:46.33. This marked Abdi's third Olympic team in this event, but the first for both Rupp and Torres.

Rupp, who ran the 10,000m last summer at the World Championships, handled the race and the attention like a pro. "This is what every runner aspires to do and the Olympics are your time to shine," he said afterward. "I knew Abdi was going to put up a fight with 300 to go, so I just went for it. I gave it everything I had, but Abdi is in another league right now."

The exuberant Abdirahman agreed. "My coach told me to go out strong at the start and make it a man's race and to get rid of the pretenders. I was prepared for anything and I tried to drop them, but in the last 300 meters, I was really grinding it out. It was a great race and it's going to be hard for someone to beat me the way I feel now."

Torres said, "I told myself I was going to stick to the front and get myself a chance to win because I knew if I was close to the front I was going to make the team. That was the strategy I wanted. As soon as Abdi took off at the 5K, I knew I was going to go for the win. I knew if I hung on I would make the team and I did."

He also underlined the significance of the date, Independence Day, both for himself and the naturalized Abdirahman. "I'm a first generation American. My parents came here with a dream to become American citizens and live the American dream. It is very special that I have been given this opportunity…to represent the United States of America."

2004 Olympic Marathon silver medalist and two-time Trials champion Meb Keflezighi of Team Running USA finished exactly in the middle of the field, running 28:39.02 for 13th.

U.S. Men's Olympic Trials 10,000m
Eugene, OR, Friday, July 4, 2008

1) Abdi Abdirahman (AZ), 27:41.89
2) Galen Rupp (OR), 27:43.11
3) Jorge Torres (CO), 27:46.33
4) Ed Moran (VA), 27:52.10
5) Josh Rohatinsky (OR), 27:54.41
6) James Carney (CO), 27:58.81
7) Adam Goucher (OR), 27:59.31
8) Dathan Ritzenhein (OR), 28:05.31
9) Sean Quigley (PA), 28:21.96
10) Tim Nelson (WI), 28:29.95

Complete Olympic Trials results and more at: www.usatf.org/events/2008/OlympicTrials-TF/

Source: Running USA