Dathan Ritzenhein Reflects On Fourth-Place Showing

He’s heading back to the track.

Fourth place is a hard place to find yourself. And after coming just one place away from punching his ticket to the 2012 Olympic Games, it was especially hard for American hopeful Dathan Ritzenhein. At the U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon last weekend, Ritzenhein finished eight seconds behind third-place runner Abdi Abdirahman.

“Obviously being fourth is the worst place to be, and I’m trying not to react in the completely negative, but the marathon has been a continued problem,” Ritzenhein told Universal Sports. “I’m not saying that I will never run another marathon but I am going to shift my focus back to the track. I am really going to focus on the disciplines and distances that I am good at.”

In the race on Saturday, Ritzenhein stuck with the leaders all the way to the 17-mile point, but began experiencing hamstring problems afterwards, causing him to fall out of contention for a podium finish.

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