Galen Rupp

Galen Rupp (born May 8, 1986) is an American long-distance runner.

Originally a soccer player, he caught the eye of American marathon legend Alberto Salazar, who coached him to great high school success, including two Oregon state titles in cross country (2002 and 2003) and three individual championships in track and field (the 1500 meters in 2004 and the 3000 meters in 2003 and 2004).

After winning the Oregon state title in cross country in 2003, he went on to finish second nationally in the 2003 Foot Locker Cross Country Championships.

In the spring of 2004, Rupp won his 5000 meters heat against college runners at the Stanford Cardinal Invitational with a time of 13:55.32, fourth-best in U.S. prep history.

He went on to break the Oregon state records for the 1500 m (3:45.3) and the mile (4:01.8), the latter mark being the ninth-best in American high school history at the time.

In June 2004, Rupp broke the U.S. high school record for the 3000 m with a time of 8:03.67 (since broken by German Fernandez), also breaking the high school record for the 2000 meters en route (5:18.5).

On July 31 in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium, he broke Gerry Lindgren's 40-year-old U.S. high school record for the 5000 m by almost seven seconds, with a time of 13:37.91 for the event.

He finished his high school career with a 10,000-meter race in 29:09.56 in Brasschaat, Belgium, which was the fourth-fastest ever for an American high schooler.

He was the Track and Field News "High School Athlete of the Year" in 2004.

Rupp delayed entering college, instead continuing to train and compete while coached by Salazar.

He won the USA Junior Cross Country title in mid-February 2005 then placed 20th at the 2005 World Junior Cross Country Championships in France in mid-March.

He then enrolled at the University of Oregon in time for the outdoor track season.

On May 7, 2005, at the Oregon Twilight Meet, Rupp broke Rudy Chapa's U.S. junior (age 19 and under) record for the 10,000 m with a time of 28:25.52, which is still the current North American and Pan American junior record.

Two months later, he placed second in the same event at the NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship.

On July 17, 2005, Rupp broke Gerry Lindgren's U.S. junior record for the 3000 m in Lignano, Italy, with a time of 7:49.16, which is also the current North American and Pan American junior record.

After he led the team in the Willamette Invitational (sixth) and Pre-NCAA Invitational (12th), an injury brought Rupp's 2005 cross country season to an early end.

In indoor track, Rupp placed fifth in the 5000 m and sixth in the 3000 m at the 2006 NCAA indoor championships, earning All-American status in both events.

His 2006 outdoor season was brief due to the onset of hypothyroidism.

Rupp returned to cross country in 2006 to defeat two-time Pac-10 champion Robert Cheseret, Bernard Lagat's brother, of the University of Arizona to become Oregon's 10th male runner to win a Pac-10 Conference cross country title.

He also led a young Oregon team to victory over the Stanford Cardinal, who had won the previous six Pac-10 titles.

Rupp went on to finish sixth in the 2006 NCAA Men's Cross Country Championship.

The following March, Rupp capped his indoor season by placing third in the 5000 m and fourth in the 3000 m at the 2007 NCAA Men's Indoor Track and Field Championship.

He began his outdoor season by running a 28:35 over the 10,000 m at Stanford.

During the race, he caused some controversy by frequently slowing down to wait for another athlete.

On April 20, 2007, Rupp made a huge comeback in the last 200 meters of a 5000-meter race to edge out Chris Solinsky, improving his personal best to 13:30.

On April 29, 2007, Rupp defeated a stellar field to win the men's 10,000 m at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational at Stanford.

Rupp's time of 27:33.48 set an American-born NCAA Collegiate Record for the event and also gave him the seventh-fastest time in U.S. history.

Two weeks later, Rupp won the 10,000 m and 5000 m at the Pac-10 conference meet and helped Oregon to the team title.

As in his freshman year, he went on to finish second in the 10,000 m at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

Rupp made his global senior debut at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics and came in 11th at the 10,000 m.

A few months later, Rupp finished second – one second behind the winner, Liberty University's Josh McDougal – and led the Oregon Ducks to the 2007 NCAA men's cross country team championship.

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.

Rupp redshirted the 2008 college track season to focus on the 10,000 m at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials, where he finished second (27:43.11), earning a spot on the 2008 U.S. Olympic team.

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.

Rupp holds or held multiple U.S. records at the high school, collegiate and senior levels.

He is considered to be one of the greatest American distance runners of all time.

Born in Portland, Oregon, into a Catholic family of German descent, Rupp set junior and American high school records while competing for Portland, Oregon's Central Catholic High School.