Jorge Torres (athlete)

Jorge Torres
Personal information
Nationality USA
Born August 22, 1980
Chicago, Illinois
Residence Boulder, Colorado[1]
Height 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Weight 123 lb (56 kg)
Sport
Sport Athletics
Event(s) Long-distance running
Coached by Brad Hudson[1]
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s) 5000 m: 13:20.57 (2005)
10,000 m: 27:42.91 (2007)
Marathon: 2:13:00 (2009)

Jorge Torres (born August 22, 1980 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American long-distance and cross-country runner.[2] He is a three-time runner-up at the U.S. Cross-Country Championships (2005, 2006, and 2008), a 2002 NCAA Cross Country Champion, and a 2006 U.S. Outdoor Champion for the 10,000 meters.[1][3]

Athletic career

Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois by Mexican immigrants, Torres began running with his twin brother Eduardo at the age of eleven. He won the cross-country race at the 1998 Foot Locker National Championships in Orlando, Florida, and added three more titles in his category from numerous state high school tournaments.[4] Jorge is the only boy to run in four high school national championships Foot Locker Cross Country Championships.[5] Four years later, Torres captured his first ever national title at the 2002 NCAA Men's Division I Cross Country Championship in Terre Haute, Indiana, with a course record time of 29:04.70.[6]

By the summer of 2003, Torres placed third in the 5,000 meters at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, and followed it with a fifteenth-place finish at the IAAF World Championships in Paris, France, clocking at 13:43.37.[7]

Although he missed out the U.S. Olympic team in 2004, Torres continued to build success and more importantly, improved his best possible marks in the long-distance and cross-country running. He highlighted his 2005 track campaign by posting a personal best time of 13:20.57 in the 5,000 meters at the Payton Jordan U.S. Open in Palo Alto, California.[8] He also enjoyed a strong cross-country season by winning a silver medal in the men's 12 km race at the U.S. national championships, and by placing fourth in the 4 km race.[1]

Torres found a new success in long-distance running by winning the 10,000 meters at the 2006 AT&T USA Outdoor Championships in Indianapolis, Indiana, with a personal best time of 28:14.43, four seconds ahead of runner-up and Olympic silver medalist Meb Keflezighi (28:18.74).[9] On April 29, 2007, Torres extended his personal best to 27:42.91, when he finished fifth in the same distance at the Cardinal Invitational in Palo Alto.[1]

The following year, Torres and his twin brother Eduardo competed against each other at the USA Track & Field Cross Country Championships in Mission Bay, San Diego, California. He finished the men's race in second place by twenty-six seconds behind winner Dathan Ritzenhein, with a time of 35 minutes and 31 seconds. His brother Eduardo, on the other hand, placed ninth, at approximately 36 minutes.[10] Torres qualified for the 2008 IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Edinburgh, Scotland, where he placed nineteenth in the men's race, with a time of 36:03.[11]

Torres earned a spot on the U.S. team for his first Olympics, by placing third in the 10,000 meters at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon, with a time of 27:46.33.[12][13] Eduardo also qualified for the same distance as his twin brother, but finished the race abruptly in eleventh place.

At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Torres competed as a member of U.S. track and field team in the men's 10,000 meters, along with his teammates Abdi Abdirahman and Galen Rupp. He finished the race in twenty-fifth place by four hundredths of a second (0.04) ahead of India's Surendra Kumar Singh, with a time of 28:13.93.[14]

A year after the Olympics, Torres began his transition of becoming a marathon runner.[15] He ran his first half-marathon at the Great North Run in London, with an impressive time of 1:02:42. Few weeks later, Torres made his official debut in a full distance, and set a personal best time of 2:13:00 at the 2009 New York Marathon, finishing in seventh place.[16]

Personal bests

Event Best Venue Year Notes
1500 meters 3:41.29 Eugene, Oregon, United States June 19, 2004
1 mile 4:02.62 Walnut, California, United States April 21, 2002
3000 meters 7:52.15 Helsinki, Finland August 18, 2003
5000 meters 13:20.57 Palo Alto, California, United States May 29, 2005
10,000 meters 27:42.91 Palo Alto, California, United States April 29, 2007
Marathon 2:13:00 New York, New York, United States November 1, 2009

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "USATF – Jorge Torres". USA Track & Field. Retrieved January 8, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Jorge Torres". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 8, 2013.
  3. ↑ "Global Athletics – Jorge Torres". Global Athletics. Retrieved January 8, 2013.
  4. ↑ Garcia, Marlen (December 6, 1998). "Runner Jorge Torres: A Coach's Best Friend". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved January 8, 2013.
  5. ↑ http://www.coachjayjohnson.com/2015/02/run-faster-podcast-001-jorge-torres/
  6. ↑ "Plus: Cross Country; Flanagan and Torres Win N.C.A.A. Titles". New York Times. November 26, 2002. Retrieved January 8, 2013.
  7. ↑ Meyer, John (July 6, 2008). "Dream trip to Beijing Olympics on tap for ex-CU star". Denver Post. Retrieved January 8, 2013.
  8. ↑ Surber, Tom (May 29, 2005). "Kidane sets U.S. All-Comers record at Payton Jordan U.S. Open". USA Track & Field. Retrieved January 8, 2013.
  9. ↑ "USATF Champs Friday Report". Track & Field News. Retrieved January 8, 2013.
  10. ↑ Lee, Kirby (February 17, 2008). "Ritzenhein, Flanagan dominant at USA Cross Country Championships". IAAF. Retrieved January 8, 2013.
  11. ↑ "McGregor and Torres head USA team for 2008 World Cross Country". IAAF. March 21, 2008. Retrieved January 8, 2013.
  12. ↑ Dunaway, James (July 4, 2008). "Goucher upsets Flanagan in the 5000m - US Olympic Trials, Day 6". IAAF. Retrieved January 8, 2013.
  13. ↑ Hersh, Phillip (July 6, 2008). "Torres runs down dream". IAAF. Retrieved January 8, 2013.
  14. ↑ "Men's 10,000m Final". NBC Olympics. Retrieved January 8, 2013.
  15. ↑ Larkin, Duncan (October 28, 2009). "Jorge Torres on His Marathon Debut at New York". Running Times. Retrieved January 8, 2013.
  16. ↑ Latter, Phil (November 16, 2011). "Twist of Fate". Running Times. Retrieved January 8, 2013.

External links