EUGENE, Ore. — North Yarmouth native Ben True fell short in his bid to make the U.S. Olympic team, finishing fifth in the 5,000-meter final Saturday at the U.S. track and field trials.
True finished in 13 minutes, 36.40 seconds. Bangor native Riley Masters also failed to qualify, finishing 16th in 14:18.49.
“Dejected,” True told LetsRun.com after the race.
Bernard Lagat surged from eighth in the last lap to win in a time of 13:35.50. He will be joined on the Olympic team by Hassan Mead, who finished second in 13:35.70, and Paul Chelimo, who was third in 13:35.92.
The top three finishers qualified for the Olympic team.
“I just didn’t have the closing speed I needed,” True said. “I thought I put myself in good position with 400 to go and I went, and Hasson and Lagat caught back up and passed me and I tried to keep going and I just didn’t have anything.”
Lagat ran the final 400 meters in 52.82 seconds.
“It was not about the last lap, Lagat said. “It was to react when everybody makes a move and not do something that is not smart.
“I was already with the kickers. I was with Ryan Hill (sixth place in 13:38.36) and Paul Chelimo. I knew I was in a good group that was going to take off sooner or later.”
Galen Rupp, who won the 10,000 meters and the marathon at the Olympic trials, led late before being overtaken in the final 400 meters and finished ninth in 13:41.09.
True missed his first shot at making the Olympic team last Saturday when he finished 11th in the 10,000 meters with a time of 29:04.21. He earned a spot in the 5,000- meter final Monday, finishing third in his heat with a time of 13:48.11.
At the 2012 U.S. trials, True finished 12th in the 10K and sixth in the 5K while dealing with the effects of Lyme disease.
Last summer, True finished second in the 5,000 at the U.S. championships to earn a spot in the world championships, where he finished sixth in a time of 13:54.07. Masters earned his spot in the finals by running 13:49.75 on Monday.
At 41 years old, Lagat qualified for his fifth Olympic team.
“I train with young guys, and I don’t believe I’m old,” Lagat said. “If you believe you’re old, you’ll run like an old man.”
Lagat won Olympic medals in the 1,500 competing for Kenya in 2000 and 2004. This will be his third time running for the United States in a Summer Games, though he has yet to medal. Lagat finished fourth in the London Games.
Materials from The Washington Post were used in this report
Copy the Story LinkSend questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.