Sean McGorty

After that spring season, I left my club soccer team and decided to run all year.” He became a state champion in cross country, the 1600 metres, and the 3200 metres.

His father was a decathlete who participated in the U.S. Olympic trials in 1988 and 1992.

McGorty has two brothers who also pursued running, with one who competed for Stanford and the other for William and Mary.

McGorty attended Chantilly High School in Fairfax, Virginia.

He was initially involved in soccer and basketball but switched to running after trying cross country in his freshman year.

In his first season competing in cross country, he recorded 16:26 in a 5 km race.

Encouraged by his success, the high schooler moved on to indoor track.

Describing his transition to running, McGorty stated in an interview, “When [indoor track] continued to go well, I decided to do outdoor track.

Sean McGorty (born March 8, 1995) is an American middle- and long-distance runner, who competes mainly in the 5000 metres and 10000 metres.

He represented the United States in both events at the 2023 World Championships and in the 5000 m at the 2022 World Championships.

In his senior year in 2012, he placed second at the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships, behind Edward Cheserek.

He attended Stanford University from 2013 to 2018, where he won an NCAA title over 5000 m. Upon graduation, McGorty turned professional to compete for the Nike-sponsored Bowerman Track Club.

Sean McGorty grew up in Chantilly, Virginia, coming from a family with a background in track and field.

His parents met while competing in the sport for the University of North Carolina.

At the 2013 New Balance Outdoor Nationals, he won the 2-mile race, recording a time of 8:45.61, the fastest ever for a Virginia high school boy.

McGorty also set the high school boy's mile meet record at the 2013 Penn Relays with a time of 4:04.47.

For college, he chose Stanford University among offers from several institutions, including Princeton and Georgetown.

While at Stanford University, McGorty won an NCAA title and recorded multiple All-American finishes.

McGorty is a two-time gold medalist at the NACAC Championships, securing victories in the Junior Men's 6K in 2014 and the 10000 m in 2022.

In high school, McGorty achieved success in state- and national-level competitions, including a second-place finish at the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships.

He competed in the NCAA Division I men's cross country championships four times, with a highest finish of seventh in 2015.

While competing in track, McGorty achieved several top finishes in the mile.

In January 2015, he ran the mile in 3:59.34, becoming the first collegiate runner to run a sub-four minute mile in 2015.

In 2016, he improved his time in the indoor mile to 3:53.95, finished less than a second behind Izaic Yorks.

McGorty also specialized in the 5000 m. On 1 May 2016, he fulfilled the qualifying standard in the event for the Olympics, with a personal best of 13:24.25 at the Payton Jordan Invitational.

At the 2016 NCAA Outdoor Championships, he finished second behind Edward Cheserek in the 5000 m. McGorty improved to first place at the 2018 NCAA Outdoor Championships to claim the NCAA title in the 5000 m in 13:54.81, out kicking heavy favorite Justyn Knight, as well as the 2017 champion and Stanford teammate Grant Fisher.

His university honors include being named NCAA Division I Male Indoor Track Scholar Athlete of the Year and Scholar-Athlete of the Year by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

On 14 July 2018, McGorty competed for the first time in Europe at the Guldensporenmeeting in Kortrijk, Belgium, where he won the 1500 metres in a personal best of 3:36.61.

The following month, McGorty announced that he had joined the Bowerman Track Club, a Nike-sponsored group coached by Jerry Schumacher.

In June 2019, McGorty experienced a severe pain in his foot during training.

He was diagnosed with a Staphylococcal infection in his heel bone, leading to multiple surgeries throughout the year.

McGorty made a successful recovery and resumed competing in February 2020.

In June 2020, he set a personal best of 13:11.22 in the 5000 m.

McGorty began competing in the 3000 metres steeplechase in May 2021, with the aim of qualifying in the event for the 2020 Summer Olympics.

On 9 May, in his first race at the distance, he recorded a time of 8:20.77, meeting the qualifying standard for the Olympics.

This time was the fastest debut ever in the event by an American.

During the 2020 US Olympic Trials, held in June 2021, McGorty stopped mid-race in a preliminary round to fix a loose shoe, losing about 10 seconds.

Despite this, his time was fastest enough to qualify for the final round.

In the finals, he finished seventh, missing the top three needed to qualify for the Olympics.

In a post-race interview, he expressed disappointment and attributed his performance to negative thinking, stating, "I let myself get out of the race mentally."