Galen Rupp wins US marathon trials to secure Tokyo ticket

New York, March 1: Galen Rupp stormed to victory at the United States marathon trials to book his fourth consecutive ticket to the Olympic Games.

The 33-year-old distance runner, the protege of banned coach Alberto Salazar, powered home in 2hr 9min 20sec in blustery conditions in Atlanta, Georgia. Jacob Riley claimed second place 2:10:02 while the 43-year-old Abdi Abdirahman took third to qualify for Tokyo.

The Somalia-born Abdirahman will be competing in his fifth Olympics after first competing in the 10,000m at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

Rupp, a marathon bronze medallist at the 2016 Olympics and a silver medallist in the 10,000m at the 2012 Games in London, has been troubled by Achilles and foot injuries in recent seasons.

Galen Rupp 🗣after his win in Atlanta.#MarathonTrials20 pic.twitter.com/BcmnsvnZiO

— Now just @runnerspace 🙌 (@runnerspace) February 29, 2020

He underwent surgery in 2018 and last year suffered a blow when long-time coach Salazar was given a four-year ban by the United States Anti-Doping Agency for doping offenses.

Rupp, who is now coached by Mike Smith, has never failed a doping test and has repeatedly denied using performance-enhancing drugs.

In the women's race on Saturday (February 29), the Kenya-born Aliphine Tuliamuk won in 2:27:23 ahead of Molly Seidel, who was competing in a marathon for the first time.

Sally Kipyego, who won a silver medal for Kenya in the 10,000m at the 2012 Olympics, claimed the third spot. Tuliamuk, Seidel and Kipyego's 1-2-3 finish upset the form book, with 2018 Boston Marathon winner Des Linden, US 10,000m record holder Molly Huddle and Jordan Hasay all missing out.