Jorge Torres (born August 22, 1980 in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

) is an American long-distance and cross-country runner. He is a three-time runner-up at the U.S. Cross-Country Championships (2005, 2006, and 2008), a 2002 NCAA Cross Country Champion, and a 2006 U.S. Outdoor Champion for the

10,000 meters The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship-level events. The r ...

Running career

Early career

Born and raised in

by Mexican immigrants, Torres began running with his twin brother Eduardo at the age of eleven. He attended Wheeling High School in Wheeling, Illinois. He won the cross-country race at the 1998 Foot Locker National Championships in

Orlando, Florida Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...

, and added three more titles in his category from numerous state high school tournaments. Jorge is one of only two boys ever to run in four

Foot Locker Cross Country Championships The Eastbay-Foot Locker Cross Country Championships are a series of annual cross country running races held in various regions of the United States to determine the premier cross country runner in various age groups, but mainly serves to find the ...

Collegiate

Four years later, Torres captured his first ever national title at the 2002

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

Men's Division I Cross Country Championship in

Terre Haute, Indiana Terre Haute ( ) is a city in Vigo County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 58,389 and Terre Haute metropolitan area, its metropolitan area had a populati ...

, with a course record time of 29:04.70.

Post-collegiate

Torres graduated from University of Colorado in the spring of 2003. By the summer of 2003, Torres placed third in the 5,000 meters at the

USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships The USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships is an annual track and field competition organized by USA Track & Field, which serves as the American national championships for the sport. Since the year 1992, in the years which feature a Summer Oly ...

, and followed it with a fifteenth-place finish at the IAAF World Championships in

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, clocking at 13:43.37. Although he missed out the U.S. Olympic team in 2004, Torres continued to build success and more importantly, improved his best possible marks in the long-distance and cross-country running. He highlighted his 2005 track campaign by posting a personal best time of 13:20.57 in the 5,000 meters at the Payton Jordan U.S. Open in

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...

. He also enjoyed a strong cross-country season by winning a silver medal in the men's 12 km race at the U.S. national championships, and by placing fourth in the 4 km race. Torres found a new success in long-distance running by winning the

at the 2006 AT&T USA Outdoor Championships in

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

, with a personal best time of 28:14.43, four seconds ahead of runner-up and Olympic silver medalist

Meb Keflezighi Mebrahtom "Meb" Keflezighi (; , ''Mebrāhtōm Kifl'izgī''; born May 5, 1975) is a retired American long distance runner. He is the 2004 Olympic silver medalist in the marathon and finished in fourth place in the 2012 Summer Olympics. He won ...

(28:18.74). On April 29, 2007, Torres extended his personal best to 27:42.91, when he finished fifth in the same distance at the Cardinal Invitational in Palo Alto. The following year, Torres and his twin brother Eduardo competed against each other at the USA Track & Field Cross Country Championships in Mission Bay,

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

. He finished the men's race in second place by twenty-six seconds behind winner

Dathan Ritzenhein Dathan James Ritzenhein (born December 30, 1982) is a retired American long-distance runner, and current head coach of the On Athletics Club (OAC). He held the American record in the 5,000 metres (12:56.27) from 2009 to 2010, until it was broke ...

, with a time of 35 minutes and 31 seconds. His brother Eduardo, on the other hand, placed ninth, at approximately 36 minutes. Torres qualified for the

2008 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2008 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on March 30, 2008. The races were held at the Holyrood Park in Edinburgh, United Kingdom. Four races took place, one for men, women, junior men and junior women respectively. All race ...

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, where he placed nineteenth in the men's race, with a time of 36:03. Torres earned a spot on the U.S. team for his first Olympics, by placing third in the 10,000 meters at the U.S. Olympic Trials in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie River (Oregon), McKenzie and Willamette River, Willamette rivers, ...

, with a time of 27:46.33. Eduardo also qualified for the same distance as his twin brother, but finished the race abruptly in eleventh place. At the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

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, Torres competed as a member of U.S. track and field team in the men's 10,000 meters, along with his teammates Abdi Abdirahman and

Galen Rupp Galen Rupp (born May 8, 1986) is an American long-distance runner. He competed in the Summer Olympics in 2008 in Beijing, 2012 in London, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro and 2021 in Tokyo. He won the silver medal in the men's 10,000 meters in London and ...

. He finished the race in twenty-fifth place by four hundredths of a second (0.04) ahead of India's Surendra Kumar Singh, with a time of 28:13.93. A year after the Olympics, Torres began his transition of becoming a marathon runner. He ran his first half-marathon at the Great North Run in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, with an impressive time of 1:02:42. Few weeks later, Torres made his official debut in a full distance, and set a personal best time of 2:13:00 at the 2009

New York Marathon The New York City Marathon, currently branded as the TCS New York City Marathon for sponsorship reasons, is an annual marathon () that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is the largest marathon in the world, with 53,627 fin ...

, finishing in seventh place. In 2022, Torres was selected to be the team captain for the Midwest team, found at the 1:55:12 mark in the video at th
2022 Champs Sports Cross Country National Championships
(Previously the Eastbay Cross Country Championships, and prior to that it was the

). While he did not run, the Midwest team won the meet with 18 points, 43 points ahead of the second team, Northwest.

Personal bests

*All information taken from IAAF profile.

Achievement chronology

*1994 - IESA Illinois Cross country champion (9:52 2 miles). This was a course record until it was broken in 2017 by Fiker Rosen. Jorge was an 8th grader. *1995 - IHSA Illinois Cross country runner up (freshman) 14:37; 13th at Footlocker Nationals 15:38 *1996 - IHSA Illinois Cross country state champion (sophomore) 14:29; 5th at Footlocker Nationals 15:38 *1997 - IHSA Illinois Cross country state champion (junior) 14:15; 2nd at Footlocker Nationals 15:33 *1998 - IHSA Illinois Cross Country state champion (senior) 14:00; Footlocker National Champion 15:16 *1999 - NCAA D1 championships (freshman) 47th place 31:26; 8th at Nationals for 5k 14:04 *2000 - NCAA D1 championships (sophomore) 3rd place 30:21; 5th at Nationals for 5k 13:57 *2001 - NCAA D1 championships (junior) 2nd place 29:06 (team champion as part of Colorado); 2nd at Nationals for 5k 13:59 *2002 - NCAA D1 championships (senior) 1st place 29:04; 9th at Nationals for 1500 3:44 *2008 - IAAF World Cross Country Championships (Men's Senior Race) - 19th place; 36:03 (12 km) *2008 - Olympics, Beijing - 25th place in 10k 28:13

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Torres, Jorge 1980 births Living people American male marathon runners Colorado Buffaloes men's track and field athletes Colorado Buffaloes men's cross country runners Olympic track and field athletes for the United States Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics American sportspeople of Mexican descent Track and field athletes from Chicago Sportspeople from Boulder, Colorado 21st-century American sportsmen Athletes (track and field) at the 2007 Pan American Games