Ben Blankenship Regroups After Missing World Team by .02 Seconds

Hirsute miler finished heartbreaking fourth at USA Outdoor Championships.

By Lindsay Rossmiller TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2015, 1:18 PM

At the beginning of May, after helping a U.S. team set the world record in the distance medley relay, Ben Blankenship said, “Nothing that I do in the next six or seven weeks will make any difference if I don’t make the team.”

At the beginning of May, after helping a U.S. team set the world record in the distance medley relay, Ben Blankenship said, “Nothing that I do in the next six or seven weeks will make any difference if I don’t make the team.”

He meant the U.S. 1500-meter team for the world championships in August in Beijing.

On Saturday, Blankenship was forced to reconsider that statement after finishing fourth at the USATF Outdoor Championships by .02 seconds.

Blankenship initially broke to the front and led the pack for the first 900 meters. At the end, however, the race behind winner Matthew Centrowitz tightened considerably as Robby Andrews, Leo Manzano and Blankenship charged through the last 15 meters together in a photo finish. When the times came in, three one-hundredths of a second separated second place from fourth.

“My whole goal this season was to make the team,” Blankenship said Sunday, a day after the race. “And now I kind of have to re-evaluate it and look at different goals.”

Coming into the race, Blankenship was considered among the favorites to make the team. His season has included a second-place finish in the USATF Indoor Championships in February, a dramatic anchor leg in that world-record distance medley relay at the World Relays meet in May, a 1500-meter personal best of 3:35.28 in Shanghai, and a win in the International Mile at the Prefontaine Classic.

Saturday’s race turned out differently than he had hoped.

Centrowitz took control with 600 meters to go and never looked back en route to a winning time of 3:37.25. Everyone else chased for the second and third places, which represented the other two world championships team spots. Blankenship made another move with 250 meters to go. “I thought everything was going as planned, kind of as I thought it would go in my head,” he said.

Andrews, however, went from seventh to second in the final 150 meters to catch Blankenship and Manzano at the line. Andrews finished in 3:38.75, Manzano in 3:38.76, and Blankenship in 3:38.78.

“I think the most important thing in this sport is to win the shoulder-to-shoulder battle,” said Blankenship. “I didn’t really care about Robby at that point. It was more about trying to beat Leo, and I just didn’t do it.”

“You relive the bad ones more than you do the good ones,” he said, “because I think these are the ones you learn from more than the ones that you do well at.”

There is a wrinkle, however, in who will ultimately represent Team USA in Beijing. Andrews and Manzano have yet to obtain the IAAF “A” standard of 3:36.20. Blankenship has, and could be named to the team if Andrews or Manzano fail to meet the standard by Aug. 9.

“I hope those guys hit the standard. I do. I was fourth, and that spot doesn’t get onto the Beijing team,” Blankenship said. “Going forward, I’m just going to look at running the best races I can and putting myself in positions to do the best I can. I hope those guys can do the same for themselves.”

As he attempts to regroup, he hopes to run a few races yet this summer. He will try to get into a fast 1500 or mile and then potentially a high-level race at two miles or 5000 meters.

Although disappointed in his nationals performance, Blankenship doesn’t regret his race.

“I ran the race I wanted to run,” he said. “I don’t look at the race as something that I did wrong. I think I did everything right, and it’s just a tough break when you can’t win those shoulder-to-shoulder races.”