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Aug. 8, 2012

LONDON -- Washington State University alumnus Bernard Lagat qualified for the men's 5,000m final at the 2012 London Olympic Games.

Lagat, a two-time Olympic medalist, finished fourth in Wednesday's second heat of the 5,000m qualifying races and ran a time of 13 minutes, 15.45 seconds. Lagat joins other USA Team members Lopez Lomong and Galen Rupp as fifteen men will run in the final 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.

WSU alum 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).

For a comprehensive grid of Olympians with Northwest ties, go to the Seattle Times website at http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/flatpages/sports/olympics/2012/seattle-washington-london-2012-olympics.html