7/5/08

After the race, as he carried an American flag around the track and signed autographs and posed for pictures, someone handed him a bright yellow T-shirt.

He looked at it, smiled, and put it on. On the front, a red octagon with the message:

Stop Rupp.

So the allusion wasn’t exactly subtle. It also wasn’t appropriate. At least, not yet.

Galen Rupp became an Olympian on Friday night. He’s headed to Beijing. As fireworks popped off behind him, the 22-year-old called it “great,” and “unbelievable,” to have achieved a dream he’s had since the day he started running.