The Oregon Sweep was the result of the 2008 United States Olympic Trials Men's 800 metres race. [1]
The Olympic Trials were held at Hayward Field on the University of Oregon campus in Eugene, Oregon. The city of Eugene bills itself as "Tracktown USA" for its fanatical support of the sport of track and field. [2] The 800 metres event was once a strong event for Americans, with 7 Olympic gold medals up to 1956. Between 1956 and 2008, the United States has only managed Dave Wottle's 1972 gold medal, and four bronze medals by Tom Farrell in 1968, Rick Wohlhuter in 1976, Earl Jones in 1984 and Johnny Gray in 1992, increasing the value of success at the Olympic Trials. Eight years later, Clayton Murphy also won a bronze medal.
Going into the trials, Khadevis Robinson had won three straight outdoor National Championships [3] and was the reigning Indoor Champion as well. [4] The local favorite was Nick Symmonds, who had been successful at nearby Willamette University, an NCAA Division III school. He had won the 2007 indoor championship but accentuated his rise to the elite level before the home crowd at the Prefontaine Classic when he beat reigning Olympic champion Yuriy Borzakovskiy at his own game coming from behind on the home stretch. Both Robinson and Symmonds won their semi-final heats while former three time national champion David Krummenacker had been eliminated.
The rest of the field included 2004 Olympian Jonathan Johnson, Jebreh Harris, returning from the 2004 Olympic Trials, Lopez Lomong, who had won the previous NCAA Championships, Duane Solomon, from the USC, and Andrew Wheating, from the home team of the University of Oregon were up and coming collegiate runners. Symmonds' unheralded Oregon Track Club training partner Christian Smith, formerly from Kansas State University, joined Lomong in edging out an additional college star Jacob Hernandez from the University of Texas in their semi-final. Four other OTC training partners were eliminated in those semi-finals. [5]
To form, there was a battle at the front, as Khadevis Robinson, trained by Johnny Gray, and Jonathan Johnson took the race out fast (24.1 and 50.3), with the rest of the field in a tight pack. Nick Symmonds was at the back of the pack with Andrew Wheating trailing the field. With 200 metres to go (1:17.2) Robinson had a clear lead over Lomong, Solomon and Smith, Symmonds was boxed at the back of the pack with Wheating still trailing. Clipping arms with the slowing Johnson to his outside, Symmonds managed to break free. Running around the outside of the field in the turn, Symmonds charged into the lead at the beginning of the home stretch and powered away to victory. The tall Wheating pulled out to lane 4 to avoid the traffic and followed, passing the faltering Robinson 20 meters before the finish securing the second qualifying position. Across the middle of the track, Smith, Robinson, Lomong and Solomon were all straining for the last qualifying position, with both Smith and Robinson diving for the line landing in a heap. [6] The photo finish declared Smith the third qualifier giving the three Oregon based runners the three positions on the team. The crowd went berserk as much because the sweep by the three athletes who train on the same track was so unexpected. [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] Symmonds was even surprised his partner had qualified and rushed to congratulate him as Smith got back to his feet. The three took a victory lap of the stadium. Smith had not previously made the Olympic A-standard, but achieved it in this race, perhaps the peak of his career. [12]
NBC had the TV rights to the Trials and the Olympics. It repeated the thrilling race many times during their coverage of both. Copyrighted copies of the broadcast are all over the internet. The race was called the "defining moment" of the trials by Running Times. [13] Others called it "a race for the ages". [14]
John Lee Gray Jr. is a retired American world class 800 meter runner from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s and the holder of the 600m world best. A four-time-Olympian (1984-1996) in 1985 he set the US record of 1:42.60 at a meet in Koblenz. That time puts Gray as the nineteenth fastest performer of all time. He came seventh in the 1984 Summer Olympics, fifth in 1988, and won the bronze medal at the Barcelona Olympics of 1992. In 1993 Gray was one of the favourites to win a gold medal at the World Championships in Stuttgart as he had won the A-race at the prestigious meeting in Zurich. However, he failed to qualify for the final in Stuttgart. He also set the world 600 meter record in 1986 at 1:12.81. In 1992 and 1993 Gray came close to breaking the world indoor record over 800 m several times. He held the US indoor record at 1:45.00 till February 2019.
Galen Rupp is an American long-distance runner. He competed in the Summer Olympics in 2008 in Beijing, 2012 in London, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro and 2021 in Tokyo. He won the silver medal in the men's 10,000 meters in London and the bronze medal in the men's marathon in Rio de Janeiro. Rupp competed for the University of Oregon and trained under Alberto Salazar as a member of the Nike Oregon Project. He won the 2017 Chicago Marathon, becoming the first American to do so since Khalid Khannouchi in 2002. Rupp won the marathon at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials in Atlanta with a time of 2:09:20, and qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, where he finished eighth.
Khadevis Robinson is an American retired middle-distance runner and currently serves as the Director of Track and Field for the TCU Horned Frogs.
Nicholas Boone Symmonds is an American YouTube personality and retired middle-distance track athlete, from Boise, Idaho, who specialized in the 800 meters and 1500 meters distances. Symmonds signed with Brooks Running in January 2014 after a 7-year sponsorship with Nike. In college at Willamette University he won seven NCAA Division III titles in outdoor track. Symmonds is a 6-time US National 800 meters champion. He has competed in the 800m at two Olympic Games, reaching the semi-finals in Beijing 2008; in London 2012, he finished fifth in the final, running a personal best of 1:42.95 behind David Rudisha's world record. He won a silver medal in the 800 meters at the 2013 World Championships, having previously finished sixth in the 2009 final and fifth in the 2011 final.
Will Leer is an American mid-distance runner. He graduated from Pomona College in Claremont, California in May 2007. Leer has represented the United States in international competition.
Matthew "Teg" Tegenkamp is a retired professional runner from Lee's Summit, Missouri who specialized in various long-distance events. Tegenkamp represented the United States at two Summer Olympics, in 2008 and 2012. He trained with other members of the KIMbia Athletics group and was sponsored by Nike during his professional career. Tegenkamp set an American record in the outdoor two mile[PRs] and also achieved other performances that were near record breaking during his career.
Christian Smith is an American middle-distance runner from Garfield, Kansas. He graduated from Pawnee Heights High School in 2002 and from Kansas State University in 2006.
Anna Willard is an American middle distance runner.
Andrew "Andy" Wheating is a retired American middle distance runner. Wheating competed for the United States in the men's 800 m at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, and in the 1500 m at the 2012 Summer Olympics. He was a professional runner for Nike.
James J. Robinson Jr. is a former American middle distance runner. He was the dominant American 800 meters runner from the mid-1970s through the mid 1980s. He ran in the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, finishing fifth in his semi-final and not making the final. He was on the ill-fated 1980 U.S. Olympic team that did not get to compete due to the 1980 Summer Olympics boycott. He did however receive one of 461 Congressional Gold Medals created especially for the spurned athletes.
Duane Renard Solomon is a retired American Olympic track athlete, primarily known for racing the 800 meters. He ran for his home country in the IAAF World Championships in 2007 and 2013 as well as in the 2012 Olympic Games. He also took the gold medal at the North American, Central American and Caribbean Under 23 Championships in 2006.
Cynthia Shepherd "Cyndy" Poor is a retired American track and field athlete, known primarily for her success in middle distance races.
Morgan Uceny is a retired American track and field athlete who specialized in middle distance running. Uceny won three national championships and was the 2011 IAAF Diamond League Champion at 1500 meters. She ended 2011 as the first American since 1985 to be ranked number one in the world in the 1500 m by Track & Field News.
Kibwé Johnson is an American Olympic track and field athlete who specializes in the hammer throw. He has represented his country at the World Championships in Athletics three times. Competed in the 2012 London Olympics where he made the final and finished 9th. No American had made the final since 1996. Johnson competed in 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
Kim Conley is an American track and field athlete, who competes in middle and long distance track events. She finished in third place at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials to qualify for the 2012 Olympics in the 5,000 meters, where she finished twelfth in her heat.
Nicole Teter is an American middle distance runner, who specialized in the 800 metres. She is a three-time U.S. indoor champion, and a two-time Olympian. She also won a gold medal in the same category at the 2002 U.S. Outdoor Championships.
Erik Sowinski is an American middle-distance runner, who specializes in the 800 metres. He won a bronze medal in the event at the 2016 World Indoor Championships, and he is a three-time national champion. He also holds the former American indoor record in the 600 meters. Sowinski has garnered recognition for pacing other athletes to fast times, often in high-profile competitions.
Luke Puskedra is an American long-distance runner who competes over distances ranging from 10,000 meters to the marathon.
Raevyn Rogers is an American middle-distance athlete. She won a bronze medal in the 800 meters at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, becoming the fourth fastest woman in U.S. history in the event. At the 2019 World Championships, Rogers came from seventh with 100m remaining in the race to place silver over USA teammate Ajeé Wilson in bronze. She earned a world indoor title as a member of national 4x400 m relay squad that took gold at the 2018 World Indoor Championships.
The 2020 United States Olympic trials for track and field were staged in Eugene, Oregon, having been moved from the initially selected Hilmer Lodge Stadium in Walnut, California. This was first major event for the redesigned and rebuilt Hayward Field.
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: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)See several private youtubes of the race here, [1] here [2] and here. [3]