To represent their country at the Olympics, for athletes in some events, it can come down to 1/100 of a second.
Three minutes and 39 seconds flat — that was Cal Poly’s Track and Field Athlete of the Year Davis Bove’s time in the first round of the 1,500-meter race in Eugene, Oregon at Heyward Stadium.
“Somedays it works out perfect and some days it doesn't and it just so happened to be .01 short that day,” Bove said.
While Bove's dream fell short by just .01 seconds at his Olympic Trial debut, it gave him the reassurance that although he’s not going to Paris, he’s certainly good enough to.
“Being around that level of competition, I think it just reminded me again that, you know, we all work hard and there's not that much difference separating, you know, me from the people who maybe are on the Olympic team,” he said.
Despite not making the top three, Bove will still tune in come late July.
“Honestly, I think anyone from the U.S. final could have had a chance to, to make a final or maybe even medal at the Olympics as well,” Bove said.
In the swimming pool, Cal Poly’s Drew Huston made his Olympic debut in Indianapolis after learning that he qualified for the 100-meter and 200-meter backstroke a year in advance.
“They announced that it was the biggest, like, crowd ever to watch a prelim session," Huston said. "There was like 17,000 people there and I was about to see my race and I thought I would be super nervous, but it was like one of the least nervous I'd been for a race. I was just really excited to go out and swim and it was a great race.”
Huston placed 37th in the 200-meter backstroke and 28th in the 100-meter back closing out his first Olympic Trials after sharing the pool with the likes of fellow Olympians he grew up watching.
“That was super cool and definitely something I'll never forget,” Huston said.
Further south, Santa Barbara native and San Marcos High School graduate Allie Jones made her debut in the heptathlon placing fifth, two spots shy of qualifying for Team USA. She competed for both Stanford and USC in her college career.
The Olympics take place from July 26 to August 11 and you can catch all the coverage on KSBY.
