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Spc. Paul Chelimo relied on the strength he developed as a
Soldier to get through the men's 5,000-meter run at the Rio Olympic
Games, where he eventually claimed the silver medal.
On the
way to the medal race, Chelimo ran his personal best time of 13
minutes 19.54 seconds to win his qualifying heat on Wednesday, Aug.
17, 2016. At the finals, Saturday, Aug. 20, 2016 ... he pushed past
that personal best by more than 15 seconds to finish runner-up to
Great Britain's Mo Farah in 13:03.94.
But his greatest
challenge came moments after the race, when an NBC journalist
informed him that he had been disqualified for lane infringement.
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Spc. Paul Chelimo of the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program finishes
runner-up to Mo Farah of Great Britain to claim the silver medal in
the men's 5,000-meter run with a personal-best time of 13 minutes,
3.90 seconds Aug. 20, 2016 at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil. Farah won the gold in 13:03.30 and Hagos Gebrhiwet
of Ethiopia took the bronze in 13:04.35. Chelimo was disqualified
from the race but later reinstated and collected his silver medal at
the awards ceremony, which was delayed to sort it out.(U.S. Army photo by Tim Hipps, Installation Management Command)
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"Getting the news from the television reporter that I was
disqualified, that was the most heartbreaking thing in my life,"
said Chelimo, 25, a native of Iten, Kenya, who trains in Beaverton,
Oregon, as a Soldier in the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program.
The race featured a lot of pushing, shoving and stumbling by
numerous runners throughout, and came down to a frenetic sprint to
the finish in the final 200 meters.
"It was really tactical
two or three laps into the race with two Ethiopians trying to lead,"
Chelimo said. "I was trying to stay in between them, but they
wouldn't let me. They kept pushing me and kept blocking me the whole
time because they were working as a team."
Once Farah had
worked his way to the front, Chelimo knew he had to work his way out
of the box or other runners could pass on the outside to collect the
silver and bronze medals.
"I was the guy inside in lane one,
the guy inside behind Mo Farah" Chelimo said. "I couldn't stay there
the whole time. I wanted to medal, too, so I had to look for
position to get out and go into contention."
During that
process, track officials briefly disqualified Chelimo for stepping
on the inside lane line, but the disqualification was overturned
upon appeal, and Chelimo won his silver medal.
"They said it was infringement, but going back to what happened
is people were pushing back and forth," Chelimo explained.
The appeal process was the longest wait of his life, Chelimo said.
Secretary of the Army Eric Fanning, who attended the games as a
member of President Barack Obama's U.S. Delegation to Brazil, said
the entire delegation was pulling for Chelimo.
"I'm only here
because of these Army Soldiers," Fanning said. "That's the reason
I'm part of this delegation. But it was fun for the entire
delegation to have an extra reason to cheer, not just for the United
States but for the Army, so they were screaming loudly for him:
'Who's your Soldier? Who's your Soldier?'"
One of the
delegation members, four-time Olympian and six-time Olympic medalist
Jackie Joyner-Kersee, believed all along that Chelimo would be
reinstated.
"Pushing and shoving is a part of the sport," Joyner-Kersee said.
"That's what you do, so I was glad to see our track and field
federation was on it and got the protest in there. We prevailed, and
I was glad to see him up on that podium."
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Spc. Paul Chelimo (center) of the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program finishes runner-up to Mo Farah of Great Britain to claim the silver medal in the men's 5,000-meter run with a personal-best time of 13 minutes, 3.90 seconds Aug. 20, 2016 at the Rio Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Farah won the gold in 13:03.30 and Hagos Gebrhiwet of Ethiopia took the bronze in 13:04.35. Chelimo was disqualified from the race but he was later reinstated and collected his silver medal at the awards ceremony.(U.S. Army photo by Tim Hipps, Installation Management Command)
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For Chelimo, now that the Olympics are over, his real
work begins. As a Soldier and member of the World Class
Athlete Program, he will take his medal on tour throughout
the U.S. as a trainer and an inspiration to America's youth.
The WCAP Soldier-Olympians, when not actively training
or competing in international competitions, participate in
recruiting and training missions. WCAP members recently
visited Fort Gordon, Georgia, where they assisted with the
events at the local Best Warrior Competitions.
"We're taking the
skills and training that we learn in WCAP and teaching them
to Soldiers," said Sgt.1st Class Keith Sanderson, who
competed in the rapid fire pistol event at Rio. "We show
them how they can apply the lessons we've learned in
competition to their daily jobs and to the war fighting
effort."
From nutrition to weight training to proper
sleep patterns, the Soldier-Olympians remain ambassadors
even after they return to their regular units and normal
duties.
Liliana Ayalde, U.S. Ambassador of Brazil,
said even she was impressed with Chelimo and urged him to
"be a role model to let others know that that it can be done
with hard work, with training, with discipline."
"Despite the obstacles, you just keep going," Ayalde told
Chelimo the morning after the race. "That takes a lot of
mental preparation, and it says a lot about you."
Chelimo said he was eager to fill that role.
"Especially with all the young high school kids, that's my
main focus right now," Chelimo told Avalde. "I want to
encourage and motivate all of the high school kids. I really
want to motivate them and give them confidence..."
Maj.
Dan Browne, coach of the U.S. Army World Class Athlete
Program distance runners, who sweated through the
disqualification and reinstatement process along with
everyone else, was not surprised by the outcome.
"I
believed in my heart special things were going to happen,"
Browne said, "and I'm so appreciative and thankful that it
did come through. All the training paid off."
"Hard
work and perseverance works," Chelimo agreed.
By Tim Hipps
U.S. Army Installation Management Command
Army News Service
Copyright 2016
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