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Graham Blanks Set To Take Final U.S. 5000m Spot For Paris Olympics As Parker Wolfe Misses World Ranking Quota

By Chris Chavez

July 7, 2024

The final Road to Paris list of athletes eligible for the Olympics via World Ranking has been updated. In the men’s 5000m, it looks like NCAA 5000m champion Parker Wolfe of UNC did not end up within the quota to be selected.

Here’s what you need to know:

– Nine men ended up eligible off World Ranking – Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Norway’s Narve Gilje Nordås, Spain’s Adel Mechaal, the Netherlands’ Mike Foppen, Canada’s Thomas Fafard, Uruguay’s Santiago Catrofe, Switzerland’s Jonas Raess, Serbia’s Elzan Bibić and Eritrea’s Dawit Seare.

– It looks like Wolfe just missed out. Dawit Seare’s World Ranking score was 1210. Wolfe’s World Ranking score ended up being 1200. Wolfe would’ve been eligible if one of the men in the rankings quota scratched ahead of him.

– Wolfe’s ranking came from his best three performances over 3000m and 5000m: 7:37.41 for 3000m at Boston University on Feb. 3 (1218 pts.); 13:10.75 for 5000m at the U.S. Olympic Trials on June 30th (1170 pts) and 13:19.38 for 5000m at the ACC Championships on May 11th (1140 pts.)

– Graham Blanks, the 2023 NCAA cross country champion and former 5000m record holder from Harvard, is in line to take the third and final spot for Team USA in the 5000m at the Paris Olympics. Blanks has the Olympic standard with his 13:03.78 from last December. Blanks was fourth at the Trials – less than two seconds behind Wolfe.

Blanks would join Grant Fisher and Abidhamid Nur on the U.S. Olympic team. Sean McGorty, who was sixth in the U.S. Olympic Trials final and has the Olympic standard, would be the alternate.

– The U.S. Olympic track and field team is set to be named within the next day so stay put for official word from USATF. Blanks' agent is also awaiting official word from USATF.

Chris Chavez

Chris Chavez launched CITIUS MAG in 2016 as a passion project while working full-time for Sports Illustrated. He covered the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and grew his humble blog into a multi-pronged media company. He completed all six World Marathon Majors and is an aspiring sub-five-minute miler.