2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Track & Field

Ritz hits the A, punches ticket to London!

Ritz hits the A, punches ticket to London!

Jun 22, 2012 by Ryan From Flotrack
Ritz hits the A, punches ticket to London!

A lot of people watched the 10k in anticipation to see whether or not Dathan Ritzenhien would qualify for the Olympic Games. Ritz had to finish in the top three, which no one questioned possible, but he also had to run the Olympic A Standard of 27:45.0 or better. Ritz had failed in two 10k races earlier this season so questions lingered about whether or not one of America's all-time best distance runners would make his third Olympic Team. 

Ritz answered himself and any doubters with a superb run of 27:36, nine seconds clear of the mark after a 13:56 first half. Ritz ran with team Galen Rupp and long time competitor Matt Tegenkamp for most of the way until Rupp make a breaking move with 1200 meters to go. Tegenkamp outkicked Ritz over the final 400 meters for the runner-up spot to send the three big names to London!

Great race, interviews to follow...

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Men's 10000 Meter Run Final


Event Records  
 Record Tag Time Athlete Affiliation Date 
World 26:17.53 Kenenisa Bekele   ETH   August 26 2005 
American 26:48.00 Galen Rupp  Nike  September 16 2011 
Meet 27:36.49 Meb Keflezighi   Nike   July 9 2004 
OG A   27:45.00      

 Place Athlete Name Affiliation Time              
 1 Galen Rupp Nike 27:25.33            
 2 Matt Tegenkamp Nike / Oregon TC Elite 27:33.94              
 3 Dathan Ritzenhein Nike 27:36.09              
 4 Chris Derrick Stanford 27:40.23              
 5 Aaron Braun adidas/McMillan Elite 27:41.54              
 6 Ryan Vail Brooks 27:52.53              
 7 Brent Vaughn Nike 27:55.44              
 8 Luke Puskedra Oregon 27:56.62              
 9 Bobby Mack III Unattached 27:58.07              
 10 Robert Curtis Reebok 27:58.48              
 11 Hassan Mead Minnesota 27:59.04              
 12 Benjamin True Saucony 28:08.17              
 13 Jacob Riley Hansons-Brooks Distance Projec 28:08.36              
 14 Tim Nelson Nike / Oregon TC Elite 28:15.11              
 15 Joseph Chirlee U.S. Army 28:17.84              
 16 Jeff Schirmer ASTF 28:35.18              
 17 Christopher Landry Unattached 28:35.46              
 18 Girma Mecheso Oklahoma State 28:38.73              
 19 Josh Simpson AST 28:48.32              
 20 David Jankowski ZAP Fitness Reebok 29:00.67              
 21 James Strang Unattached 29:09.77              
 22 Mikhail Sayenko Brooks / Club Northwest 29:18.57              
 23 Juan Carlos Trujillo adidas 29:36.50              
 DNF Scott Bauhs Unattached