Wheating trials

He ran in the in Beijing in , and the 1, in London four years later. Yet for four days last week his focus narrowed to making it through three races. Wheating buzzed through the 1, first round easily July 7 by kicking from behind with meters to go, finishing with the sixth-fastest time among 25 who advanced. With less than meters left, he veered into the third lane in a dash reminiscent of , when his move wide of a congested pack allowed him to make his first Olympic team alongside two other Oregon-based runners, Nick Symmonds and Christian Smith.

That feeling nearly lulled him into a false sense of security in the semifinal , when his legs didn't respond as expected during his kick.

After he'd spent much of June chasing qualifying times in races, cracks in his fitness began to show. Leckie, 66, has sculpted the human form for five decades and track and field athletes specifically for nearly Visitors to his small white tent, which sat a shot put away from Hayward Field's northern edge, pressed their faces close to bas reliefs of poured hydrostone. It was from a similar spot on 15th Avenue in that Leckie watched on television as Wheating finished second in the Olympic trials , a moment that is still the signature event of his career.

Leckie has wanted to work with Wheating ever since. Three hours before the July 10 final, Leckie smiled as visitors look at Wheating's sculpture. Beginning with a clay model, and ending with a surface of smooth poured hydrostone, it took a month to produce.

The inspiration was a photo of Wheating in a timeless moment, heading toward the finish line off Hayward Field's final curve. Wheating was reminded of his age halfway through the 1,meter final. One day before the final, Wheating heard that racers without the Olympic standard planned a fast pace to either tire out contenders -- the top three made Team USA -- finish in a Rio-qualifying time, or both. Wheating expressed happiness the final would be an "honest race," but a more tactical race would have allowed him to conserve energy for a kick.

Expecting some combination of Matthew Centrowitz, Ben Blankenship and Robby Andrews to finish in the top three, and knowing from their college days that Andrews would hang back and kick late, Wheating's strategy turned the adidas runner into what he hoped would be a personal pace-setter. It worked until the final lap. After moving into eighth, Wheating lost contact with Andrews, who was long gone en route to overtaking everyone but Centrowitz.

Behind the leaders, Wheating finished 12th of 13 in I don't quite have the strength and I clearly don't have the speed. I had it great in the prelim, I put everything else I had in the semis and didn't have enough to finish out the final.

The only set-in-stone event on his calendar is a Blink concert in September, though, and beyond that is "a question mark. Let's just go for another one. Gallery: Andrew Wheating and men's 1,meter qualifying at Olympic track and field trials. Wheating, hands on his head, was in awe. He had accomplished something he never thought possible. Many Olympic athletes commit their life to mastering their sport.

For Wheating, qualifying for the Olympic games came only three years after he started seriously training for track. Specializing in the meter, he became a five-time NCAA champion, setting three school records in the process.

Wheating excelled at the pinnacle of college track and field and made his name known on the international scale. He holds memories from the old Hayward field close to this day.

Running the in the Olympic trials stands out to Wheating as one of his greatest memories as a competitor at the old Hayward field. Sweeping the meter race in the NCAA championships is another Hayward field moment that stands out to him. Wheating likes looking back at the old Hayward field and the memories that come with it. He compares it to having a phone for a while as it gets worn out in the process of using it.

With the new Hayward field, more moments and memories will be born, starting with the NCAA championships. For most track athletes, the NCAA championships is the pinnacle of their college career.

He focused only on winning, not personal bests or specific times, he said. Wheating was the NCAA champion in the meter in and as well as the meter champion in He became the first Division I man to win the and in the same year since Joaquim Cruz, also of Oregon, in As one of the favorites at the championships, Wheating was often put on a pedestal by running forums or social media, becoming a target for attention.