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Aug. 3, 2012

PULLMAN -- Move over swimming and gymnastics, track and field is on the way! And Washington State University alumni Bernard Lagat and Ebba Jungmark are set to compete at the 2012 London Olympic Games next week.

Two-time Olympic medalist Bernard Lagat will run the 5000m for the Team USA. The first round 5k races will be Wed., Aug. 8 (2:45 a.m. PT/10:45 a.m. British Standard Time) with the final set for Sat., Aug. 11 (11:30 a.m. PT/7:30 p.m. BST).

Lagat won a bronze medal in the 1,500m at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, and won the silver medal in the 1,500m at the 2004 Athens Olympics, both while competing for his native Kenya. In 2007, Lagat won the first gold medal by an American in the 1,500m at the World Outdoor Championships and the first Olympic or World Championships gold for the USA since 1908. He also became the first man ever to win the 1,500m-5,000m double at World Outdoors, and the first American to win a World Championship medal of any kind at 5,000m. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics running for USA, Lagat finished ninth in the 5k final after not reaching the 1500m finals.

Track & Field News produced a list of predictions for top 10 finishes at the 2012 Olympic Games and has Lagat listed as third in the men's 5,000m behind Mo Farah of Great Britain and Dejen Gebremeskel of Ethiopia.

Ebba Jungmark, representing her native country of Sweden, will compete in the women's high jump qualifying Thurs., Aug. 9 (1:30 a.m. PT/9:30 a.m. BST) and the final is set for Sat., Aug. 11 (11 a.m. PT/7 p.m. BST).

Jungmark won the 2008 NCAA Indoor women's high jump title, clearing 6-feet, 2 1/4 inches (1.89m) which is the second-best high jump by a Cougar woman. After her one year at WSU, Jungmark returned to compete for Sweden and finished fifth at the 2006 World Junior Championships and won the bronze medal at the 2007 European U-23 Championships. She competed at the 2007 World Championships but did not advance to the final. Jungmark won the silver medal at the 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships (Istanbul, Turkey) where she leaped a personal-record height of 6-4 3/4i (1.95m).

For a comprehensive grid of Olympians with Northwest ties, go to the Seattle Times website.