Matthew Centrowitz always wanted to be an Olympic runner. Kind of like Matt Centrowitz.
Like father, like son — as the tattoo across his chest says.
Only that the son, who goes by Matthew, is bringing home a gold medal and neither he nor his dad, known as Matt, can believe it.
Photo: AP
During his victory lap after a surprise win in the 1,500m at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Saturday, the US runner suddenly spotted his dad in the stands.
“I was like: ‘Are you kidding me?’” Matthew Centrowitz recounted. “It hasn’t sunk in. We’re both just absolutely astonished right now.”
Centrowitz surprised himself as he took the lead in a leisurely paced race with two laps remaining. He only got stronger with the finish line in sight. It was the first title in the event for the US since Mel Sheppard won the “metric mile” more than 100 years ago at the 1908 London Games.
“I’m a confident guy, but I don’t know if I was this confident,” Centrowitz said. “I thought, on the best day, maybe I’d get a silver medal, but sure, in the back of my head, I thought I could get a gold.”
He was motivated by a good-luck e-mail from running great Jim Ryun, a silver medalist in the 1,500m in 1968. He was spurred on by a rock-solid race plan — depending on what transpired. And he was in awe of the person handing out the gifts at the medal ceremony — Sebastian Coe, the president of the International Association of Athletics Federations and a middle-distance running icon.
Seeing dad and the rest of his family was a big highlight.
Distance running just so happens to run in the Centrowitz family. His father represented the US at the 1976 Montreal Games. His sister, Lauren, competed in college for Stanford.
Then there is Matthew — a confident runner who always believed he was going to be the next big thing in the 1,500m.
“I have a lot of respect for everyone in that field,” Centrowitz said. “I never took anything for granted.”
That is why he had so many race plans, so nothing would surprise him.
The US runner and Spain’s David Bustos set a slow early pace, Algerian defending champion Taoufik Makhloufi boxed in the chasing pack with Kenyan favorite Asbel Kiprop.
The opening two laps were timed at a relatively pedestrian 66 and 69.7 seconds respectively.
Kiprop motored up through the field as the pace accelerated.
Morocco’s Abalaati Iguider and Djibouti’s Aynaleh Souleiman pushed Centrowitz through the bell for the last lap, with all eyes on Kiprop and Makhloufi.
As expected, the Kenyan made his move with 300m to run, the Algerian following, but Centrowitz kept his nerve as the pack entered the home stretch.
“After the first 800m when no one came around me, I thought: ‘OK. no one’s going around me now,’” he said.
Steadily pulling away, then holding on at the end, “Centro” finished in 3 minutes, 50 seconds, beating Makhloufi by 0.11 seconds.
Nick Willis of New Zealand captured bronze.
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
RSS