EUGENE, Ore. -- Washington State University Athletic Hall of Fame member Bernard Lagat won the men's 5000m race Saturday night at the US Olympic Track & Field Trials at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., and will be representing the USA for the third consecutive Olympic Games while competing in his fifth consecutive games.
 
"Kip" Lagat, age 41, ran a spectacular 52-seconds final 400 meters, advancing from sixth place champion, winning his eighth national championship in the event.
 
"It wasn't really about the last lap but to react whenever everybody makes a move and not to do something that is not smart," Lagat told Paul Merca of paulmerca.blogspot.com after the race. "One of the things Coach (James) Li told me is 'you have to be relaxed because in the 10k you overreacted and over committed and were really feeling strong but the pace was too hard but you went way too early. Today, it doesn't matter who is going to break away and go, feel relaxed and like you are taking it easy. Your race is not going to start until the last 200 meters, regardless of where you are. The last 200 are going to be important and you are going to make the team that way. It's not about winning because the top three will take you to Rio.'"
 
When asked about his performance at age 41, Lagat replied, "I train with young guys. And I don't believe I'm old because if you believe you're old than I'm going to run like an old man. These young guys push me every single day. I don't give up. I don't give up. I train hard with them. What you saw today is exactly what we do: we train hard and we concentrate. And we have the smartest coach who gave me the strategies today to make sure I go to Rio."
 
The 2016 Pac-12 T&F Team of the Century member came from sixth place going into the final lap to win in a time of 13 minutes 35.50 seconds. His 5k seed time coming into the Olympic Trials was 13:14.97, which was fourth-best among the 20 runners.
 
Lagat won a bronze medal in the 1,500m at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, won the silver medal in the 1,500m at the 2004 Athens Olympics, and finished fourth in the 5000m at the 2012 Beijing Games. He also ran once and qualified to compete in the 10,000m at the 2016 USA Olympic Trials but dropped out before the halfway point of the July 1 final, troubled by the heat, which was not a problem in the rain-soaked 5k first round July 4, or today's final.
 
Joining Lagat (Nike) on the USA men's 5k team are Hassan Mead (Nike, second 13:35.70) and Paul Chelimo (U.S. Army, third 13:35.92.
 
Another Cougar alum, Jeshua Anderson, will run in the men's 400m hurdles final Sunday, July 10, at 4:51 p.m. PT.