Ben Blankenship joins Chris Chavez and Kyle Merber for a candid conversation about how he managed to get to the U.S. Olympic Trials men’s 1,500m starting line after suffering a stress fracture in his tibia with seven weeks to go until the Olympic Trials. Blankenship details how he was able to piece together any fitness to be able to show up on the starting line and attempt to make his second Olympic team. He made it through the first round with a 3:42 to squeeze into the semifinal as the last time qualifier. He ran 3:46 in the semifinal and was eliminated. As you’ll learn in this episode, this is far from the end for Blankenship.

On Instagram, he wrote: “I watched the 2012 Trials from afar; I vowed that if I ever earned the opportunity to compete, I’d always show up. It’s the Olympic Trials.”

Tune into our daily podcast from the Olympic Trials is presented by Tracksmith.

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We’re excited to partner with Tracksmith, an independent running brand fueled by a deep love of the sport. They celebrate the amateur spirit and seek to inspire the personal pursuit of excellence. Tracksmith is pleased to be supporting 30 Olympic Trials qualifiers in Eugene, including athletes across 14 disciplines, as part of their Amateur Support Program. Check out Tracksmith’s essentials for racing and training – including the Strata kits their Trials athletes are racing in this week – at Tracksmith.com/CITIUS and use code CITIUS to receive 10% off any order until the last day of the trials, June 27th.