He finally did it. Bernard Lagat broke the US 5k record today, finishing third in Oslo with a 12:54. Ignoring for a minute all the arguments that Lagat is not a true American (seriously?), I am proud to say three Americans have broken 13 minutes in the 5k over the last year, with the American record being reset twice. Furthermore, the men's US 10k record was recently broken (sub-27:00!) by Chris Solinsky with an amazing finish at the Payton Jordan Invitational at Stanford, the US women finished third at World Cross this year, and two Americans (Meb and Shalane) have medaled in distance events at the two most recent Olympic games. The United States is no longer chasing the west Africans - we are now actually competing with them.
For a number of years (from the 80s to the early 2000s), the running community believed American distance running was in decline. Only Bob Kennedy could run with the Kenyans, though even he never obtained a World Championship or Olympic medal. However, taking a look at recent events, I would say we can feel good about the current state of American distance running. I am not sure what exactly we are doing right (hopefully not EPO!), but I am getting excited about what the future may bring.
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