First Olympians Selected for Rio
In thrilling and brutal races, six Americans qualified for the 2016 Olympic marathon team. In the men's race, Galen Rupp dominated in his marathon debut, eventually breaking Meb Keflezighi after hanging with the defending champ for 20 miles. Rupp ran 2:11:12 to win by over a minute. Former BYU stalwart Jared Ward was the third man to punch his ticket today; the 40-year-old Meb ran 2:12:20 and Ward ran 2:13:00 in the Los Angeles heat.
If Rupp elects to focus on the 10K and 5K, fourth-placer Luke Puskedra--like Rupp, an Oregon Duck--will be headed to the Olympics.
In the women's race, being friends with Amy Cragg was a good predictor of making the team. After finishing fourth in 2012, Cragg won the race; her Arizona State roommate Desi Linden took second and after co-leading most of the race, Cragg's training partner Shalane Flanagan finished third. 37-year-old Kara Goucher was fourth.
Cragg's winning time was 2:28:20, Linden ran 2:27:54, and Flanagan 2:29:19.
Full recaps of the men's and women's races can be found on FloTrack.
