Rupp holds or held multiple U.S. records at the high school, collegiate and senior levels. He is considered to be one of the greatest American distance runners of all time.[2]
Early career (2002–2004)
Born in Portland, Oregon, into a Catholic family of German descent,[3] Rupp set junior and American high school records while competing for Portland, Oregon's Central Catholic High School. Originally a soccer player, he caught the eye of American marathon legend Alberto Salazar, who coached him to great high school success, including two Oregon state titles in cross country (2002 and 2003) and three individual championships in track and field (the 1500 meters in 2004 and the 3000 meters in 2003 and 2004). After winning the Oregon state title in cross country in 2003, he went on to finish second nationally in the 2003 Foot Locker Cross Country Championships. In the spring of 2004, Rupp won his 5000 meters heat against college runners at the Stanford Cardinal Invitational with a time of 13:55.32, fourth-best in U.S. prep history. He went on to break the Oregon state records for the 1500 m (3:45.3) and the mile (4:01.8), the latter mark being the ninth-best in American high school history at the time.[citation needed]
In June 2004, Rupp broke the U.S. high school record for the 3000 m with a time of 8:03.67 (since broken by German Fernandez), also breaking the high school record for the 2000 meters en route (5:18.5). On July 31 in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium, he broke Gerry Lindgren's 40-year-old U.S. high school record for the 5000 m by almost seven seconds, with a time of 13:37.91 for the event. He finished his high school career with a 10,000-meter race in 29:09.56 in Brasschaat, Belgium, which was the fourth-fastest ever for an American high schooler. He was the Track and Field News "High School Athlete of the Year" in 2004.[4]
Rupp delayed entering college, instead continuing to train and compete while coached by Salazar. He won the USA Junior Cross Country title in mid-February 2005 then placed 20th at the 2005 World Junior Cross Country Championships in France in mid-March. He then enrolled at the University of Oregon in time for the outdoor track season.
Collegiate career (2005–2009)
On May 7, 2005, at the Oregon Twilight Meet, Rupp broke Rudy Chapa's U.S. junior (age 19 and under) record for the 10,000 m with a time of 28:25.52,[5] which is still the current North American and Pan American junior record. Two months later, he placed second in the same event at the NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship.[6] On July 17, 2005, Rupp broke Gerry Lindgren's U.S. junior record for the 3000 m in Lignano, Italy, with a time of 7:49.16,[5] which is also the current North American and Pan American junior record.
After he led the team in the Willamette Invitational (sixth) and Pre-NCAA Invitational (12th), an injury brought Rupp's 2005 cross country season to an early end.
In indoor track, Rupp placed fifth in the 5000 m and sixth in the 3000 m at the 2006 NCAA indoor championships, earning All-American status in both events. His 2006 outdoor season was brief due to the onset of hypothyroidism.
The following March, Rupp capped his indoor season by placing third in the 5000 m and fourth in the 3000 m at the 2007 NCAA Men's Indoor Track and Field Championship. He began his outdoor season by running a 28:35 over the 10,000 m at Stanford.[6] During the race, he caused some controversy by frequently slowing down to wait for another athlete. On April 20, 2007, Rupp made a huge comeback in the last 200 meters of a 5000-meter race to edge out Chris Solinsky, improving his personal best to 13:30. On April 29, 2007, Rupp defeated a stellar field to win the men's 10,000 m at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational at Stanford. Rupp's time of 27:33.48 set an American-born NCAA Collegiate Record for the event and also gave him the seventh-fastest time in U.S. history. Two weeks later, Rupp won the 10,000 m and 5000 m at the Pac-10 conference meet and helped Oregon to the team title.[6] As in his freshman year, he went on to finish second in the 10,000 m at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
A few months later, Rupp finished second – one second behind the winner, Liberty University's Josh McDougal – and led the Oregon Ducks to the 2007 NCAA men's cross country team championship.
Rupp redshirted the 2008 college track season to focus on the 10,000 m at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials, where he finished second (27:43.11), earning a spot on the 2008 U.S. Olympic team. He went on to finish 13th at the 2008 Olympics with an U.S. Olympic–record time of 27:36.99.[6]
Recovering from the Olympics, Rupp avoided the early 2008 cross country season, running his first race at the Pac-10 Conference Championships, which he won in a course-record 22:55 in the 8000-meter run. He then repeated as NCAA West Regional champion by running 27:41.24 to win the 10,000 m. In the 2008 NCAA national cross country championships, Rupp won his first individual NCAA title by out-kicking Liberty University's Sam Chelanga in a time of 29:03.8, a new course record on the Terre Haute, Indiana, site, and leading the Ducks to repeat as NCAA team champions.[8]
Rupp's 2009 track season was a resounding success. Indoors, he joined the sub-4:00 club for the one-mile run on March 7 with a time of 3:57.86 at the Husky Last Chance Qualifier Meet in Seattle. On February 13, 2009, he broke the U.S. indoor 5000 m record with a time of 13:18.12 at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Arkansas.[9] At the NCAA indoor nationals, he won an unprecedented three events: the 5000 m (13:41.45), the distance medley relay (running a 3:57.07 as the 1600 m anchor leg only 90 minutes after his 5000 m victory), and the 3000 m (7:48.94) the next day. This triple victory helped Oregon win its first-ever indoor national team title.
Outdoors, Rupp helped break the NCAA 4 x mile record on May 10. He ran a time of 3:58.93 as the anchor the relay, which also included his Oregon teammates Matthew Centrowitz Jr. (3:59.53), Andrew Wheating (3:59.60) and Shadrack Kiptoo-Biwott (4:05.21), and they shaved a little more than one second off the old record with their time of 16:03.24. After helping Oregon defend its Pac-10 title, Rupp won the 5000 m and 10,000 m at the 2009 NCAA Division I outdoor track championships.[10] In all, Rupp earned 14 All-American honors at Oregon, along with five individual championships, a relay championship, two NCAA cross country team titles and an indoor track NCAA team title.
In his last appearance for the University of Oregon, Rupp won the 10,000 m at the 2009 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Hayward Field with a time of 27:52.53.[11]
In 2009, Rupp won the inaugural Bowerman Award, which is given to college track's Athlete of the Year.[12]
Professional career
2009–2010
Rupp at the 2009 World Championship in Berlin
Having earned himself a place on the U.S. team for the 2009 World Championships in Athletics, Rupp announced that he was turning pro and that Michael Johnson would be his agent. At the World Championships, Rupp placed eighth in the 10,000 m, in which he was one of only two non-Africans in the top 12 alongside Dathan Ritzenhein.[13]
He then qualified for and competed at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships, where he set a personal best of 7:42.40 for the 3000 m, taking fifth place in the final.[14]
Rupp knocked more than 20 seconds off his previous 10,000 m personal best with a time of 27:10.74 in Palo Alto, California, at the Payton Jordan Stanford Invitational. Before that race, the U.S. record was 27:13.98 set by Meb Keflezighi, and though Rupp's time was over three seconds faster, he was beaten to the punch by Chris Solinsky, who won the race with a new U.S. record of 26:59.60. Two months later, Rupp retained his national title in the 10,000 m with a win at the 2010 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.[15] Rupp competed on the 2010 IAAF Diamond League circuit and made a series of improvements to his personal records: he broke four minutes for the one-mile run at the Pre Classic, running it in 3:57.72,[16] set an outdoor 3000 m personal best of 7:43.24 at the London Grand Prix,[17] and then improved his 5000 m time to 13:07.35 at the season-ending Weltklasse Zürich meeting.[18]
2011
Rupp took part in the Great Edinburgh Cross Country in 2011 and finished second behind Mo Farah, helping the U.S. team to second place.[19] He then took part in the New York City Half Marathon, his debut at that distance and finished third in a time of 1:00:30,[20][21] at the time making him the third-fastest American at the distance. At the 2011 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, he once again retained his national 10,000 m title, running the last 800 meters in a quick 1:52.59 to seal his victory, and came back the next day to finish third in the 5000 m. In July, he improved his 5000 m personal best to 13:06.86 at the Diamond League meeting in Birmingham, England, out-sprinting the reigning world cross country champion, Imane Merga, for second place behind winner, Mo Farah.
At the 2011 World Championships in Athletics, Rupp finished seventh in the 10,000 m with a seasonal best of 27:26.84. He then doubled back to run the 5000 m, and though he was in the lead with Farah with a little more than a lap remaining, he was out-kicked and finished in ninth place with a time of 13:28.64.
Rupp finished his track season with a new U.S. record in the 10,000 m when he ran in 26:48.00 to finish third behind winner, Kenenisa Bekele, at the Memorial Van Damme meet on September 16, 2011.[22] This time made Rupp the 16th-fastest performer in history for that distance.
2012
Rupp broke Bernard Lagat's U.S. indoor two-mile run record on February 11, 2012, when he won the event at the USA Track & Field Classic meet in Fayetteville, Arkansas, in a time of 8:09.72. (Lagat reclaimed the record in 2013 at the Millrose Games in New York City.) In June, Rupp became the sixth American to break 13 minutes for the 5000 m when he ran 12:58.90 at the Prefontaine Classic.[23] He won the 10,000 m at the 2012 United States Olympic Trials in a time of 27:25.33, which set a new Trials record, breaking Meb Keflezighi's time of 27:36.49 from 2004, and secured Rupp's second trip to the Olympic Games.[24]
Rupp on the medal podium at the 2012 Olympics
On June 28, 2012, Rupp broke Steve Prefontaine's last remaining record – his Olympic Trials 5000 m record from 1972 – winning the race in 13:22.67.[25][26]
On August 4, 2012, at the London Olympic Games, Rupp took a surprise silver medal for the 10,000 m behind his training partner Mo Farah with a time of 27:30:90, after running his last lap in 53.8 seconds. This was the first time a U.S. man had earned a medal in the Olympic 10,000 m in 48 years, the last being Billy Mills's gold in the 1964 Olympics. On August 8, 2012, Rupp advanced to the final of the 5000 m with a sixth-place finish in 13:17.56. Two days later, in the 5000-meter Olympic final, Rupp placed seventh in 13:45.04.
2013
On January 26, 2013, at the indoor Terrier Classic at Boston University, Rupp attempted to break the U.S. indoor one-mile run record, winning with a time of 3:50.92 – the fifth-fastest at the time – in a field that included four other sub-four-minute performers.[27][28][29] Among Americans, Rupp's time was behind only that of Bernard Lagat. Rupp placed second at the Boston Indoor Grand Prix 3000 m. On February 21, 2013, he broke Lagat's national indoor 3000 m record by more than two seconds with a time of 7:30.16 at the XL Galan meet in Stockholm, Sweden.[30]
During the start of his 2013 outdoor season, he did not finish the 5000 m at the Oxy High Performance Meet, but he placed second in the 1500 m with a time of 3:36.98. He placed sixth in the Prefontaine Classic 5000 m. At the 2013 USA Track & Field Championships, he won his fifth-consecutive outdoor 10,000 m title, finishing with a time of 28:47.32. His teammate, Dathan Ritzenhein, led the last four laps or so, but he was out-kicked by Rupp in the end. He was also the runner-up in the 5000 m to Bernard Lagat. These finishes qualified Rupp for two events at the IAAF World Championships in Moscow. He raced the 5000 m at the Monaco Diamond League Meet, where there were rumors of him and Lagat going after the U.S. record. However, Rupp came out on top because Lagat did not finish, and no U.S. record was broken that day. At the London Diamond League meet, his last event before Moscow, he raced in the Emsley Carr Mile, in which he was the top American in an international field, even though he is a 10,000 m specialist. He set an outdoor personal best of 3:52.11, beating out a field that included his 1500 m specialist teammate Matthew Centrowitz.
On August 10, 2013, at the 14th IAAF World Championships in Moscow, Russia, Rupp placed fourth in the 10,000 m final with a 27:24.39, a seasonal-best performance. He followed up that performance with a time of 13:29.87 run in the 5000 m finals, placing eighth.
2014
Rupp set the U.S. indoor 5000 m record at Boston University on January 16, 2014, with a time of 13:01.26, breaking Lopez Lomong's previous record of 13:07.00.
On January 25, Rupp set the U.S. record for the indoor two miles with a time of 8:07.41, breaking the previous record of 8:09.49 by Bernard Lagat on February 16, 2013.[31]
On May 30, Rupp finished with a time of 26:44.36 at the Prefontaine Classic in the 10,000 m, breaking his own U.S. record of 26:48.00, which was set on September 16, 2011.
On June 27, Rupp won his sixth-consecutive 10,000 m title at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships with a time of 28:12.07.[32]
On June 10 and July 5, Rupp attempted to break the U.S. record for the outdoor 5000 m but was unsuccessful both times.
In its annual World Rankings issue in 2014, Track & Field News magazine recognized Rupp as the world's top athlete in the 10,000 m, marking the first time an American runner claimed the No. 1 position since the 1985 season.
2015
Galen Rupp approaching the halfway point of the 2017 Boston Marathon, in which he placed second
On August 22, 2015, in the 10,000 m at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics, Rupp ran with the breakaway lead pack of his training partner Mo Farah and three Kenyan athletes, as they tried to act as a team to beat Farah. Farah started a long kick, resulting in a 54.15 last lap for the victory; Rupp placed fifth with a time of 27:08.91.
2016
On February 13, 2016, Rupp qualified for the U.S. National Team for the 2016 Rio Olympics as a marathoner. It was the first marathon that Rupp had competed in, becoming the second American runner in history to win the Olympic marathon trials on their first attempt. He beat second-place finisher, Meb Keflezighi, by over a minute, recording the winning time of 2:11:13 on a warm day in Los Angeles.[35][36]
A few months later, on July 1, Rupp won the 10,000 m at the United States Olympic Trials with a time of 27:55.04, qualifying for the Olympics in a second event. At the same meet, he placed ninth over the 5000 m.
On March 11, 2018, Rupp won the Roma-Ostia Half Marathon with a time of 59:47, becoming the second American to run a half marathon in under 60 minutes. He fell short of Ryan Hall's U.S. record by four seconds.[42]
On May 6, Rupp won the Prague Marathon, setting a new personal best of 2:06:07.[44]
On October 7, Rupp finished fifth at the Chicago Marathon with a time of 2:06:21. The race was won convincingly by his former training partner Mo Farah, who finished in 2:05:11.[45]
Rupp underwent surgery on October 19 to correct a condition called Haglund's syndrome, a bony bump on his heel that was causing his Achilles tendon to fray. The condition is believed to be a congenital disorder. He has the bumps on both heels, though to date only the left one has been problematic.[46]
Rupp finished eighth in the Olympic Marathon, which was held in Sapporo, Japan, on August 8, 2021. He ran with the leaders through the first 30 kilometers but could not match the move made by eventual winner, Eliud Kipchoge, finishing three minutes and three seconds behind him with a time of 2:11:41.
In September, Rupp placed third in the Great North Run – the second-largest half marathon in the world – which was won by Marc Scott.[49]
Weeks later, Rupp placed second in the Chicago Marathon in warm and windy conditions with a time of 2:06:35.[50]
In November, Rupp made his debut in the New York City Marathon. However, he dropped out of the race before the 30-kilometer mark, as he could not keep up with the leading pack after Evans Chebet of Kenya made a move near the 25-kilometer mark.[52]
2023
Rupp headed into 2023 in poor health after multiple DNFs in 2022 and running injured in the 2022 World Marathon championships. He ran one race in the Spring- the NYC Half Marathon, but finished well back in 17th place with a time 1:04:57. This was not a competitive showing by Rupp's standards.[53]
Rupp focused the rest of his year in building up for the Chicago Marathon, a race he has run 4 times including a win in 2017 and runner up finish in 2021. He did not race otherwise as he put all of his training towards his marathon buildup. Rupp indicated he was healthy prior to the race and had not been in the NYC Half 7 months prior or at any race in 2022. He was hoping to run under the Olympic standard of 2:08:10, which no American men had hit prior to the race.[54] Rupp ran in a pack with fellow Americans Conner Mantz, Daniel Mesfun, and Sam Chelanga. All 4 were on pace for a sub-2:07 finish as late as 30K, but Rupp faded to an 8th place finish of 2:08:48 and missed out on the standard. Mantz and Clayton Young would both hit the Olympic standard in the race. This was Rupp's first healthy marathon in 2 years since the 2021 Chicago Marathon.[55]
Rupp is married to Keara Rupp. They have four children: twins Emmie and Grayson (born in July 2014), Jaden (born in November 2016) and Lucas (born in February 2019).[57][58]
Controversy
Rupp's coach of sixteen years, Alberto Salazar, was at the center of doping allegations in 2015.[59] In October 2019, it was announced that Salazar, as well as Nike consultant Dr. Jeffrey Brown, would be banned from the sport by the United States Anti-Doping Agency for a period of four years due to the trafficking of testosterone, the prohibited use of L-carnitine and tampering with doping controls. Salazar disputed the findings and planned to appeal.[60] In January 2020, Rupp announced his new coach would be Mike Smith, who is the head coach at Northern Arizona University.[61]
^"The Best Moments of the 2017 Boston Marathon". Runner's World. April 17, 2017. Archived from the original on April 18, 2017. Retrieved April 17, 2017. American Galen Rupp placed second in his first Boston Marathon, 21 seconds behind the leader Kirui, in 2:09:58.
Note 1: In 1888 both the NAAAA and the AAU held championships
OT: The 1920, 1928, 1932, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016 championships incorporated the Olympic Trials, otherwise held as a discrete event.
2020 OT: The 2020 Olympic Trials were delayed and held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Distance: Until 1924 the event was 5 miles; from 1925–27 and from 1929–31 it was over 6 miles.
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