Becoming a high school state champion isn’t easy. Becoming an NCAA champion isn’t easy. Moreover, becoming an Olympic finalist isn’t easy. There aren’t many people who can have all of those achievements on their resume. However, Graham Blanks fits all of those categories–in the span of only five years.
Blanks is a native of Athens, Ga., and a current junior student-athlete at Harvard University. While he didn’t start getting into running until he was in tenth grade, from there, nothing has gotten in his way of becoming one of America’s top distance athletes.
To provide some perspective, while the US has dominated in the shorter distance races in track and field, such as the 400m and lower, the distance races have usually been a struggle.