“I knew I was gonna finish no matter what – for our country, for our kids.” “I’ve got to finish,” Keflezighi said he told himself. But then there was another sight: Meb Keflezighi stopping, starting, stopping, but running on. Jared Ward finished sixth, reaffirming the depth that has developed for U.S. ![]() The day would have been complete for the Americans with just that one medal. “The last couple miles I felt like I was walking.” He left Lilesa more than a minute back, and though Rupp was constantly in touch with Lilesa – running constantly about 10 seconds behind – he couldn’t catch him. The three-man pack eventually strung out, with Kipchoge surging for gold in 2 hours, 8 minutes and 44 seconds. In the end, as long as you end up getting a bronze in one, you get a medal, then I know I didn’t screw it up completely.” “But if we had done more speed work maybe he wouldn’t have run as well in the marathon. “You can always look back and say, ‘Well, if we hadn’t done, would he have run better in the 10k and we should have done more speed work?” Salazar said. Rupp and Salazar expressed some relief that the risk they took in training for two vastly different races – the marathon is more than four times as longer- didn’t wash out his entire Olympics. He ran with the lead group tightly packed over the first half of the race, and after the 18-mile mark, he and two others, Kenya’s Eliod Kipchoge and Ethiopia’s Feyisa Lilesa, broke away. ![]() Rupp’s performance Sunday wasn’t without a significant amount of pain. We’re back to where we were in the late ’70s or early ’80s, where Americans are competing to win medals again at all events.” ![]() “It’s so exciting to see the U.S., the resurgence in distance running in this country. “It’s fantastic,” said Alberto Salazar, the marathon legend who serves as Rupp’s coach.
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