Dr. Bob Kempainen '88, considered to be a long-shot hopeful for an American medal in the Olympic men's marathon, could not pull off the upset and finished 31st in the race on Sunday morning in Atlanta.
Kempainen's time of two hours, 18 minutes and 38 seconds was just six minutes and two seconds behind the winner, Josia Thugwane of South Africa, and was indicative of how close and competitive the marathon was.
In fact, the punishing 26.2-mile race was the closest men's marathon in Olympic history.
Thugwane took the gold medal, but he finished just three seconds ahead of Bong-Ju Lee of South Korea. Eric Wainaina of Kenya took the bronze, finishing just five seconds behind Lee and eight seconds behind Thugwane.
Kempainen's 31st-place finish may appear disappointing, but given the long odds he had to battle just to make it to Atlanta, his finish in the top 35 out of the more than 110 runners seems all the more impressive.
Kempainen had taken first place in the U.S. Olympic trials in Charlotte, N.C. last year, but developed severe upper-leg tendinitis along the way.
Battling the tendinitis in both legs, as well as a strained quadricep and a tender right hamstring, Kempainen was only able to do Olympic-caliber training for about a month before Sunday's actual race.
The 30-year old Minnetonka, Minn. native was the second finisher among three runners from the United States -- Keith Brantly of Gainseville, Fla. was 28th with a time of 2:18:17 and Mark Coogan was 41st with a time of 2:20:27.
With his 31st place finish in Atlanta, Kempainen has yet another respectable showing to add to his rather impressive list of marathon achievements.
Following his U.S. cross country championship in 1990, Kempainen ran second in his first-ever marathon in 1991 before taking third in the U.S. Olympic trials in 1992.
Kempainen took 17th in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, and followed up that showing with a second-place finish at the New York Marathon in 1993.
In 1994, Kempainen finished seventh at the Boston Marathon with a time of 2:08:47 -- and set an American marathon record time that still stands.
He also finished second at the Los Angeles Marathon in 1995.
The race was expected to be Kempainen's last appearance in an organized marathon. He had previously told the Valley News in an interview that "the next two years after this, I'm not going to be around much in terms of running."
His professional running career, which began at the College in 1984, is most likely over, at least for the time being, as Kempainen looks toward a future in medicine.
But, given his record at battling the odds, we may not have heard the last of Kempainen. He can always choose to try again at Boston, Los Angeles or New York, and if he fares well, there's nothing to say we might not see Kempainen again at the next Summer Olympics -- in Sydney, Australia in 2000.