Rupp earns ticket to Beijing
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COMPETITION SCHEDULERupp earned a place on the U.S. Olympic team with a second-place finish to Abdi Abdirahman Friday night in the 10,000 meters.
"My goal was to make the team," Rupp said, "and I did that."
Abdirahman, the U.S. champion who finished seventh at worlds last year, finished in 27 minutes, 41.89 seconds Friday night at Olympic trials.
Rupp, an all-American at Oregon, got a huge ovation from the home crowd as he crossed the finish line second, and Jorge Torres took the third spot.
Rupp left the University of Oregon in December to train full time for the Olympics. He was a much-heralded prep runner at Central Catholic High School in Portland.
Now he's headed to Beijing.
"It's great. This has been a dream of mine since I started running. This is what every runner aspires to do — run in the Olympics," Rupp said.
Finishing 13th was Meb Keflezighi, a silver medalist in 2004 marathon who also didn't qualify in that event. Adam Goucher, a five-time national champion in various events, finished seventh after being granted entry on an appeal to USA Track and Field.
Rupp, 22, said he ran a fairly conservative race, keeping his goal of making the Olympic team in mind.
"The number one objective was to get in the top three," he said. "I didn't want to do anything that would jeopardize that."
Rupp, who still has a year of eligibility at Oregon, finished second in the 10,000 meters in the U.S. outdoor championships last year. He was also the 10K NCAA runner-up last year.
He also said that he was helped by the fans at Hayward Field.
"It really is a home field advantage," he said. "They really do give you a lift. It's something special."
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
