EUGENE, Ore. -- Former WSU Cougar Bernard Lagat, at age 41, qualified for his fifth Olympic Games Saturday by winning the men's 5,000 meters final at the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Trials.
After spending most of the race in the middle of the 16-man pack, Lagat won on the strength of an outstanding 52.82-second final lap that saw him move from sixth place to first. He edged second-place finisher Hassan Mead by 0.2 seconds. Paul Chelimo, who had the lead coming out of the final turn, held on to finish third.
2012 Olympic medalist Galen Rupp had a huge lead going into the final lap, but fell well of Lagat's pace and finished ninth.
Mead also has a Northwest connection. He lived in Puyallup for six years, attending Stahl Junior High and Emerald Ridge High School before his family relocated to Minnesota.
Lagat won bronze at the 2000 Games in Sydney and Silver at the 2004 Olympics in Athens in the 1,500 meters, but that was competing for his native Kenya. Lagat ran for the U.S. in Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012.
Lagat holds the current American track and field records in the 5,000 meters, 3,000 meters, and 1,500 meters. His American record time of 3:29.30 in the 1,500 meters has stood for nearly 11 years.
Seattle native Kara Winger also punched her ticket to Rio by finishing third in the women's javelin.
Although she fouled on four of her six throws, Winger just needed one good one to make it. On her second-to-last flight, she launched the javelin 57.9 meters -- 1.1 meters farther than 4th place finisher Brittany Borman.
Maggie Malone and Hannah Carson took the top two spots.
