Rupp Top American in Olympic 10,000
BEIJING (AP) ? Kenenisa Bekele broke the Olympic record in winning the gold medal, while Oregon senior Galen Rupp was the top American finisher in the final of the men's 10,000 meters Sunday at Beijing National Stadium.
While Bekele successfully defended his Olympic 10,000 meters title in a Games' record 27:01.17, Rupp's 13th-place time of 27:36.99 was the fastest ever clocked by an American at the Olympics. Sileshi Sihine was second in 27:02.77 and Kenya's Micah Kogo took the bronze in 27:04.11.
"To come out here took it to another level for me." said Rupp, the eight-time NCAA All-American. "I ran pretty well. I was getting in there and being competitive. I think I did a great job of that. I stayed on the inside and didn't make any crazy moves. It was a comfortable pace until the last couple of miles when they really picked it up."
Running through the early laps in 25th, Rupp moved up to 13th, finishing just over three seconds off his personal best time. Olympic Trials champion Abdi Abdirahman was 15th in 27:52.53 and Jorge Torres was 25th in 28:13.93.
ED Note: The USATF contributed to this report.
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