OTC Elite sends four athletes to Tokyo Olympics

Sally Kipyego will represent the United States in the Marathon at the Tokyo Olympics. Photo by Jake Willard

By Curtis Anderson | July 21, 2021

EUGENE, Ore. - Four athletes. Four nations. 

The common thread which binds them together is that all four will compete at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics this summer as members of Oregon Track Club Elite. 

Under the expert tutelage of coach Mark Rowland, the Eugene-based training group will be represented by Sally Kipyego (USA, marathon), Nijel Amos (Botswana, 800m), Patrick Tiernan (Australia, 5,000m/10,000m) and Jake Heyward (Great Britain, 1,500m). 

Kipyego, now in her 12th season with OTC Elite, will be competing in her second Olympic Games. She won silver in the 10,000m and placed fourth in the 5,000m for her native Kenya at the 2012 London Olympics. She also won a silver medal in the 10,000m at the 2011 Daegu World Championships. 

Kipyego, 35, secured a spot on Team USA by placing third at the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in Atlanta in February of 2020. She became a U.S. citizen in 2017, the same year that she welcomed the birth of her daughter, Emma. 

"I feel like if I get good consistent training, which I have been able to do the last few years, I will have a chance to medal," Kipyego said in a USATF conference call earlier this year. "That is the objective for this season and I know that it is possible." 

Kipyego is scheduled to compete in the women's marathon on Saturday, Aug. 7. The race was moved to the northern city of Sapporo due to concerns about the intense summer heat in Tokyo. 

Amos, 27, also owns an Olympic silver medal. 

At the 2012 London Games, he placed second in the 800m with a PR of 1:41.73, trailing world record-holder David Rudisha (1:40.91) across the line in one of the greatest races in Olympic history. Amos is tied with Seb Coe as the third-fastest performer of all-time in the two-lap event. His personal best ranks ninth overall.  

Amos recently showed off his fitness with a first-place performance of 1:42.91 at the Diamond League meeting in Monaco on July 9. It was the 16th Diamond League victory of his career in the 800m. 

"I've been working really hard in training, but I just haven't been racing," Amos told Athletics Weekly. " ... running 1:42 today shows that things are going in the right direction towards the Olympics." 

Amos opens competition in the 800m on Saturday, July 31. The semifinals are set for Sunday, Aug. 1 followed by the final on Wednesday, Aug. 4. 

Nijel Amos will represent Botswana in the 800 meter run at the Tokyo Olympics. Photo by Jake Willard

Pat Tiernan will represent Australia in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters at the Tokyo Olympics. Photo by Jake Willard

Tiernan is also a two-time Olympian, placing 13th in the first round of the 5,000m at the 2016 Rio Olympics. 

The 26-year-old Aussie, who joined OTC Elite in the fall of 2020, made the finals of the 5,000m (11th) and 10,000m (22nd) at the 2017 London World Championships, and finished 10th in the semis of the 5,000m at the 2019 World Championships in Doha. 

He has been on quite a roll over the past few months. 

In December, he broke the Australian national record in the 10,000m with a time of 27:22.55. He went on to win a half-marathon In Las Vegas, followed by PRs in the mile (3:56.82) and 1,500m (3:38.64). He recently won a 5,000m tune-up race in Sacramento on July 10 at 13:24.88. 

"It's nice to be back in the cycle where you have a goal race that you're targeting for the entire season," Tiernan said. "I'll be ready to put myself up there for a very high finish (in Tokyo)." 

He opens with the 10,000m on Friday, July 30. The first round of the 5,000m is Tuesday, Aug. 3 with the final set for Friday, Aug. 6. 

This will be Heyward's Olympic debut.  

The 22-year-old Welshman was selected to the Great Britain team after placing third in the 1,500m at the Müller British Athletics Championships on June 26 with a time of 3:42.41. He is the only Welsh athlete on the GB team, and the first person from Wales to compete in the Olympic 1,500m since 1932.  

Jake Heyward will represent Great Britain in the 1,500 meters at the Tokyo Olympics. Photo by Jake Willard

After being hindered by a nagging Achilles injury for nearly two years, Heyward has blossomed this season under Rowland's direction. Over the past six weeks, he has set PRs in the mile (3:52.50), 1,500m (3:33.99) and 800m (1:46.47). 

"The main person behind it all is Mark Rowland," Heyward told Owen Morgan of Dai Sport. "He's the person that really took me to another level. I owe him a lot and the group at (OTC Elite) is fantastic ... 

"It takes time to develop that relationship and understanding of what I need and what makes me tick ... To be honest, it just took time for me to get healthy again. I needed to be able to show what I'm capable of. The fact that he (Rowland) has coached multiple Olympic medalists speaks for itself. That's the kind of level that he's operating at." 

The first round of the 1,500m will be Tuesday, Aug. 3, followed by the semifinals on Thursday, Aug. 5, and the final on Saturday, Aug. 7.