Rupp wins 5,000m crown at US Olympic Athletics Trials

Galen Rupp won his second title of the US Olympic Track and Field Trials, adding the 5,000 meters crown to his 10,000 triumph and shattering the meet record of legend Steve Prefontaine. And two African-born standouts, former world champion and two-time Olympic medalist Bernard Lagat and 2008 US flag bearer Lopez Lomong, also booked berths in London, where host-nation hero and reigning world champion Mo Farah awaits. Rupp on Thursday outfought Lagat in the final 100 meters to win 13mins 22.67secs, breaking the 40-year-old meet record of 13:22.80 set by the late Prefontaine, an icon in track-mad Eugene who died at age 24 in a 1975 car crash. Lagat was second in 13:22.82 with Lomong third in 13:24.47, holding off Andrew Bumbalough for the last Olympic berth. Rupp will double in the 10,000 after winning that event on the opening night of the meet, which continues through Sunday. Farah, who won his second European title in a row on Wednesday, has this year's world-best time of 12:56.98 from a Diamond League victory at Eugene earlier this month. Rupp finished third in the same race. Lagat, who won 2000 Olympic bronze and 2004 Olympic silver in the 1,500, took the 2007 1,500 and 5,000 world titles and was a 5,000 runner-up at the past two world championships. But he hungers for the gold he has never claimed. "This will be my fourth Olympics. I've won two medals. All that's missing is gold," Lagat said. "It matters a lot. It's what's missing for me. It doesn't matter what kind of race it will be, I'll be ready." Lomong, who escaped a militia as a boy in Sudan by running through the wilderness for three days, became a US Olympian four years ago at 1,500m and was the American flag bearer at the Beijing Olympic opening ceremony Sanya Richards-Ross, trying for a 200-400 Olympic double, and Carmelita Jeter and Tianna Madison, hoping for a 100-200 double in London, qualified comfortably for Friday's semi-finals. "It was good," Richards-Ross said. "The first round is always the toughest. You want to stay controled but you also want to go for it." Allyson Felix and Jeneba Tarmoh, still deadlocked for third and the last Olympic spot at 100m, advanced as well but made no comment about the dispute, which will not be settled until after Sunday's 200 final. Brad Walker, the 2007 world champion, won the men's pole vault title by clearing 5.67m while Derek Miles, fourth at the 2008 Olympics, reached London by finishing fourth at 5.60. Miles made the US team only after Scott Roth failed on three tries at the Olympic standard of 5.72. Reigning 400m hurdles Olympic champion Angelo Taylor, who also won Olympic gold in 2000, was second among 16 semi-final qualifiers by winning his heat in 49.53, .16 behind former world champion Kerron Clement. "I wanted to go out and make a statement," Taylor said. "This is the best I have been prepared for this event since 2000. I feel really good. "It was an easy run. I didn't realize I was so far ahead. I wanted to come home easy and I did. In the semi, people are going to be gunning. I'm going to race it like it's a final." Clement was relaxed after his run as well, saying, "I feel great. I just wanted to run a good time." Former 400 hurdles world champion and 2008 Olympic bronze medalist Bershawn Jackson, ranked second in the world this year with a best of 48.20, advanced 12th overall, winning his heat in 50.59. Reigning world champion Christian Taylor led 12 men's triple jump finalists with a leap of 17.27m in the same pit where he jumped a 2012 world-best 17.62 to win a Diamond League meet earlier this month. "I'm out here trying to make a statement to the guys I'm competing with here and on the world stage," Taylor said. "I'm ready. I'm healthy and running fast. I'm ready to go." Reigning women's world 400m hurdles champion Lashinda Demus led 16 runners into the semi-finals with a run of 55.29. "I felt great," she said. "I plan to run faster tomorrow, just keep it clean. I don't think just because I won a (worlds) gold medal somebody can't come up and beat me. It's all about being as fresh as you can for the final." Chaunte Lowe, sixth at the 2008 Olympics and second in the world this year in the women's high jump with a clearance of 2.00m, was among the top qualifiers for the finals by clearing 1.83m. "It was really easy," she said. "I just wanted to get a good height in going into the finals." Morgan Uceny, last year's Diamond League champion, led women's 1,500 semi-final qualifiers in 4:14.07 while Jill Camarena-Williams, third at last year's worlds, led women's shot put finalists with an effort of 19.30m.