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The Harvard cross country team showcased its strength on the global stage this past summer when captain Graham Blanks made his Olympic debut for Team USA in the 5000m at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Blanks’ Olympic appearance followed a record-breaking 2023-2024 collegiate season, during which the Athens, Ga., native became the first Ivy League student-athlete to win the NCAA Men’s Cross Country National Championship, capping off an undefeated season.
Despite initially narrowly missing an official spot on the Olympic roster at the 2024 US Olympic Track and Field Trials due to his fourth place finish, Blanks was able to qualify through a different route. Blanks’ competition in the third-place finisher Parker Wolfe, from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, had not met the Olympic cutoff time of 13:05 minutes, which left him an opportunity to join the elite roster. Blanks, on the other hand, had already surpassed that mark, clocking an impressive 13:03.78 minutes in December—a performance that not only met the Olympic standard but also set a new NCAA record.
In the first round of the 5,000m at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Blanks ran a strong race, coming in sixth place and punching his ticket to the final with a time of 13:09.06 minutes. In the final, Blanks kept pace with the elite pack of runners until the final straightaway. Unable to make a move around the experienced heat, Blanks crossed the finish line in ninth place with a time of 13:18.67 minutes.
After his stellar performance in Paris, The Crimson sat down with Blanks to reflect on his Olympic journey and discuss how he’s preparing for the upcoming 2024 Cross Country season:
Q: What was it like to set foot on the Olympic stage for the first time and get the chance to compete alongside world class track and field athletes?
Blanks: “I didn't foresee myself even getting to [the Olympics]… if there's one thing about running that's a big requirement for getting to those stages is just years of consistent training…having a big break in the winter, [followed by an injury], I didn't think I was going to make it to the Olympics. So just being there was really exciting.”
Q: How do you feel about your performance in the 5k final?
Blanks: “Ninth place is nothing to complain about. I was really happy to [just] be in the race and see what it takes to earn a medal…I'm pretty far off from [winning a medal] right now with how a lot of the guys can close in those races, but now I have four years to get better and hopefully go do a lot better than I did at the Olympics this year.”
Q: What was it like living in the Olympic Village?
Blanks: “The Olympic Village is not that nice in terms of the rooms and the buildings. It's kind of like a big student housing development - with massive high rise buildings and little rooms. But ultimately, it's the people that you're with who make it amazing. In the Village, there are people that do all different types of sports I've never heard of – people of all shapes and sizes. You wouldn't even realize that any of us are athletes at that point. There's just so many different people, and that was the coolest part of staying in the Village.”
Q: What was the most surprising aspect of your Olympic experience?
Blanks: “I didn't realize how big of a deal [The Olympics are] until I got there. I found it to be this really cool, human tradition that I had no idea was this monumental. I was shocked by the huge crowds because I run track and field, which, to be quite frank, no one really cares that much about until you get to the Olympics. But even with that, I didn't expect there to be 80,000 people in the crowd - even at the preliminary rounds, when there wasn't even a medal on the line.”
Q: For some athletes, preparing for such a monumental race like the Olympics can be extremely mentally challenging. Did your pre-race routine for the Olympics differ from other races?
Blanks: “I wanted to keep everything as relaxed as possible at the end of the day. It's just a race. The only thing that's different about races like the Olympics or the US Olympic trials, is that you have to check in earlier, and have to sit in this room with all your competitors, and everyone's quiet…and NBC is in there [filming]. That was the only thing that was different… trying to keep your nerves [down] while you're forced to sit around your competitors.
Q: Last year, an injury sidelined you for part of the season. Are you adjusting your training plan this fall based on your experiences from last year and the Olympics?
Blanks: “I'm not really changing much…maybe just listening to my body a little bit more and taking care of the little things…making sure I'm in the training room if something's bothering me, or making sure I'm eating enough. Basically [staying] healthy, because that's all that matters. Doing the training is the easy part, staying healthy, well, that's hard.”
Q: How are you feeling heading into your final collegiate cross country season?
Blanks: “I'm super pumped to be back, and super grateful. It 's my favorite time of the year - the fall, getting to run cross country, because it's a team sport, and you can't replicate cross country anywhere else once you leave college, at least in this team setting.”
Q: What are your goals for the upcoming cross country season? Are there any last moments you are hoping to cherish?
Blanks: “My goal is to be the best runner I can be for my team…to try to win every race I'm in, to minimize the points we score, and give us the best chance to win meets or place on the podium at the big meets…[This fall] is definitely different, because normally I would have trained the whole summer, coming into the season, but I just started [training again] a couple weeks ago… I'm really optimistic about our team's chances this year, and all the guys are looking really good.”
Harvard last competed at home, against Yale, where the women’s and men’s teams both finished in second place. The Crimson will compete next at Lehigh University at the Paul Short Run meet. The meet will take place on Saturday, Oct. 5.
—Staff writer Nadia Fairfax can be reached at nadia.fairfax@thecrimson.com
—Staff writer Natalie Weiner can be reached at natalie.weiner@thecrimson.com
