Steepler Hillary Bor Makes U.S. Olympic Team

(Eugene, OR) Hillary Bor (U.S. Army) surprised everyone, even himself, with a runner-up finish in the men’s steeplechase final at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials last Friday punching his ticket for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

Bor, who came into the meet with only the 10th fastest seed time of 8:27.01, posted a personal best of 8:24.10 in a race that started out slowly but built into a fast finish with Hillary closing with a penultimate lap of 62.79 followed by the fastest bell lap in the field of 62.13, closing on eventual champion Evan Jager before relaxing once his Olympic berth was secure.

Bor, an full-time active duty Sergeant in the U.S. Army, was only given leave to train full-time after achieving the Olympic standard two months earlier at the Payton Jordan Invitational on May 01.

Bor has been a member of the American Distance Project since being stationed at Ft. Carson in 2013 and is the first Olympian from the group coached by Scott Simmons. Bor makes the sixth ADP athlete to qualify for a world track championships, including Frenchman Nouredinne Smail who made the final of the 2013 Moscow World Championships in the steeplechase only to rupture his achilles on the penultimate water jump after taking the lead.