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Matthew Wilkinson can⁘t remember much of his viral moment on social media. It happened a couple of months ago at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore. As the former Gophers distance runner cleared the final hurdle in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, he raised his arms to his side, realizing he was going to be an Olympian. His jaw dropped as he crossed the finish line with a time of 8 minutes, 23 seconds.
He was a distance runner for Minnetonka High School who never qualified for the high school state track meet. He continued his career at the Division III level at Carleton College, where he tried the 3,000-meter steeplechase for the first time. He succeeded, and ended up at the University of Minnesota as a grad transfer.
⁘I always thought I⁘d try it in college because of the way I⁘m built,⁘ Wilkinson said. ⁘I⁘ve got longer legs and played basketball growing up, so I might have a little bit more hops than the average distance runner. As soon as I got to college, I did it, and it stuck. I thought it might be something I could be competitive at.⁘
As he steadily progressed, Wilkinson proved he can hang with some of the best in the country. Now he⁘s competing against the best in the world. He will run in the preliminaries of the 3,000-meter steeplechase at 12:04 p.m. CDT Monday with hopes posting a fast enough time to qualify for the finals.
⁘I was applying for jobs within my academic field and thought that was probably the route I was going to end up,⁘ Wilkinson said. ⁘Then I had that breakthrough (at the last year⁘s USA Track ⁘ Field Outdoor Championships) and showed a lot of coaches that I had potential.⁘
He signed with Mission Run Dark Sky Distance, a professional runners group sponsored by Under Armour, and set his sights on the Olympics.
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