Ryan Martin is an American

Middle distance runner Middle Distance Runner was an American indie rock band from Washington, D.C. Middle Distance Runner was founded in 1998, but the band didn't play a live show until 2005, shortly before the release of their debut album. The group was an early succ ...

. Martin tried out to compete for the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in the men's 800 m at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

in London, England. He is a professional runner for Asics.

Personal

Martin was born in 1989 in

Orange County, California Orange County (officially the County of Orange; often initialized O.C.) is a county (United States), county located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population ...

, the son of Debra and Chris Martin.

High school

Martin ran four seasons of track during his stay at

Santa Margarita Catholic High School Santa Margarita Catholic High School (SMCHS) is a coeducational college preparatory Roman Catholic high school located in Rancho Santa Margarita, California, United States. SMCHS is owned and operated by the Diocese of Orange, and was opened i ...

. Ryan Martin is the current school record holder at 800 meters with his time of 1:53.23 set at the

CIF California State Meet The CIF California State Meet is the annual championship track and field meet for the California Interscholastic Federation. The meet was started in 1915 for boys and 1974 for girls. Every athlete in every high school in California has a direc ...

where he finished in second place, and is a member of the 4x800m record setting team (7:51.51) with Kary Yergler, Mark Hirschboeck, and Jon Telles Martin was a State Runner-up, 2-time C.I.F. SS Champion (2006, 2007), Orange County Champion, and League Champion numerous times. During his senior season of track in his senior year, he burst onto the track scene, ranking nationally with a time of 1:53.28 in the

800 meters The 800 metres, or 800 meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event sin ...

College career

Martin attended the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

in Santa Barbara; his majors were Business Economics and

Art History Art history is the study of Work of art, artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Tradit ...

. During his first year of track during the 2008–2012 season, Martin ran the 800 m for the first time, and led the Gauchos in the 800. Martin advanced to the 2009 NCAA Outdoor finals of the 800m by placing second in Heat 3. The top two times in each heat, plus the next two fastest times overall, advanced to the final. Martin's time of 1:50.23 edged him past a runner from BYU who finished at 1:50.37. On Saturday, Martin finished eighth in the 800m final with a time of 1:52.12. It was a close race, with the winner crossing the line in 1:49.48. The fifth-place runner clocked a time of 1:50.60. Martin earned points in

Big West The Big West Conference (BWC) is an American collegiate athletic conference whose member institutions participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. The conference was originally formed on July 1, 1969, as the Pacific ...

competition multiple years. He won the Big West 800m Championships in 2009 and 2011 running 1:49.85 and 1:45.34 respectfully. In 2010 and 2012 he placed 2nd running 1:48.43 and 1:44.77 respectfully. His time of 1:44.77 placed him 5th in the world at the time for 2012. His time of 1:44.77 at the 2012 Big West Conference Championship was good for first on the all-time

University of California Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an independent teachers college, UCSB joined ...

800 metres The 800 metres, or 800 meters (American and British English spelling differences#-re.2C -er, US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of a ...

list. He was an NCAA all american three times in the 800, 2010, 2011 and 2012. The three-time All-American at UCSB was one of the youngest runners in at the 2012 Olympic Trails in Eugene and narrowly missed a berth to the London Olympic Games.

Professional

In 2012, Martin placed 4th at the USA Trials. He made it through the semi-finals of the 2012 United States Olympic Trials (track and field), but failed to qualify to the Olympics by placing 4th and running a 1:44.90 in his Final. In 2013 Martin failed to qualify for the IAAF World Championships in Moscow, Russia by placing 23rd at the USA Outdoor Track Championships, running a 1:49.72. At the 2014

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 ...

Martin placed 6th in 1:52.62 in the final. At the 2015

Martin placed 5th in 1:46.04 to qualify for the

NACAC Championships The North American, Central American and Caribbean Championships is a continental track and field athletics event organised by the North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletic Association. The last of the six IAAF areas to hold a conti ...

in Costa Rica where Ryan won the 800 meters in championship and meet records running 1:45.79.

Personal bests

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Ryan 1989 births Living people Track and field athletes from California American male middle-distance runners UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's track and field athletes Athletes (track and field) at the 2015 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States in athletics (track and field)