EUGENE, Ore. - Two spots is all that separated Isaac Updike from making the the USA Olympic Team as the former Eastern Oregon University Track & Field athlete finished fifth in the 3,000 meter steeplechase at the 2020 U.S, Olympic Trials.
Updike ran a time of 8:24.72 and was just over two seconds away from punching his ticket for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. He entered Saturday's race as the top-seed after running a first round time of 8:21.01. In the prelims race, Updike was the race leader for the majority and coasted to the win.
In the finals, Updike was able to get himself in the top four but was stuck in that position of fourth for the majority of the 7.5 lap race. In the final lap Updike battled his way to the front and became the race leader before being overtaken and falling back to his final finish of fifth place.
FOLLOW EOU ATHLETICS