So, just had time last night to watch the taped coverage of the men's 10,000 at the Oly Trials (god bless the DVR) (and, by the way, I was pretty impressed with the coverage). In many ways, it reminded me of the men's 10,000 from 1980.
I was lucky enough to attend several days of the trials in Eugene 28 years ago. And in the 10K, another young U of O runner was battling with the leaders to make the team. Alberto Salazar gave a gritty performance (to get third if I remember correctly) with the entire stadium cheering him along all the way around the track.
Well, here it is almost 30 years later and a similar situation took place last night. With the ironic twist of Al Salazar being his past coach and current "mentor", young Duck Galen Rupp rode the wave of the hometown cheers to a second place finish and earn a ticket to the show in Bejing.
I was pretty impressed by the manner in which he raced agains seasoned competitors like Abdi, Jorge and Ritz. A very impressive performance by this young man. He clearly looks to be one of the new young guns of the American distance scene.
TB
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