EUGENE, Ore. – Another race down and Miles Batty is one step closer to earning a spot on the US Olympic Team. In Friday’s semifinals at the USA Track & Field Olympic Trials, Batty finished fifth in his heat to automatically advance to the final on Sunday. NBC will broadcast the Trials on Sunday from 6 to 7 p.m. MT.
Batty finished Friday’s race in 3:42.33, just 0.43 seconds behind the leader. The top five in each of the two heats plus the two next best times qualified for Sunday’s final, which is scheduled for 5:37 p.m. MT, the second-to-last event of the Track & Field Olympic Trials.
For Batty to punch his ticket to London, he will need to finish in the top three on Sunday while also clocking a time at or below the Olympic A Standard of 3:35.50.
Five of the 12 runners in Sunday’s race have posted a time that meets the Olympic A Standard in the past season. Batty is among the other seven that will need to push the pace to meet the required time while also finishing in the top three. Batty came close to the standard at the Occidental High Performance Meet in May when he ran the 1,500 meters in 3:37.50.