Philip Dunn: Good News, Bad News at Trials

The good news for Carleton College alum Philip Dunn is that he's the 2008 Olympic Trials champion in the 50K walk, he's $14,000 richer for the effort, and he's got the inside track for a 50k spot on the U.S. Olympic Team for Beijing this summer.

The bad news is he still needs to notch an Olympic qualifying time of 4:07:00 or better to make his third Olympic Team, and that's no walk in the park.

Dunn (pictured) earned his Trials victory Saturday in sticky Miami, Florida when he surged away from eventual runner-up Matt Boyles over the final 12 kilometers of race. The race was contested in humid conditions in temperatures that rose to 80 degrees.

"The 50 km is always a challenging race. It's a brutal endurance contest," Dunn told USATF's Tom Surber. "I was in the thick of it the entire way and that's where I wanted to be. It went exactly how I envisioned it. In a 50K, the last half is when the race starts. I really made a move at 38K and that was the difference."

According to Dunn's comments in THIS Associated Press story, the 1999 Pan American Games bronze medalist achieved his main goal for the day.

"Before every race, you make a set of goals," Dunn is quoted as saying. "The main goal was to win for me, to come out on top. The secondary goal was to hit the time standard and seal the deal, make Beijing today."

Dunn plans to walk for the Olympic qualifying standard at IAAF World Race Walking Cup, May 10-11 in Cheboksary, Russia.

Dunn faced the same scenario after a third place finish at the 2004 Olympic Trials. Then, Dunn bettered the Olympic standard and punched his ticket for the Olympic Games in Athens with a 3:59:12 performance at a Tijuana, Mexico competition.

Dunn finished 35th in Athens and 28th at the Sydney Games.

Photo courtesy of USA Track & Field.