Matthew Centrowitz, a 2007 graduate of Broadneck High School in Annapolis, Maryland, was able to successfully move on thru the first two qualifying rounds of the men's 1500 at the Olympic Games in Rio, Brazil. Centrowitz has earned a spot in Saturday night's 1500 meter finals at 8 PM with a shot at the Olympic medal that he finished painfully short of back in 2012 at the London Games with a fourth place finish in the 1500 finals then.
Centrowitz is one of two Americans in the Olympic finals set for Saturday evening as Ben Blakenship was also able to advance out of Thursday night's semifinals, while the third American in Robby Andrews was unfortunately disqualified. In his semifinals heat on Thursday, Centrowitz finished third to auto advance with a time of 3:39.61.
Two days prior in the first round of the Olympic men's 1500, Centrowitz again did what needed to secure a spot among the auto qualifiers by place kicking in to finish 5th in his heat with a time of 3:39.31.
After winning a World indoor title in the 1500 this past March and having earned medals in two past World Outdoor Championships (bronze in 2011, silver in 2013), Centrowitz's best opportunity for an Olympic medal may be at these 2016 Olympic Games. However, Centrowitz is still only 26 years old and could very well possible remain on top of his game in another four years at age 30 for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
Make sure to tune into NBC at 8 PM on Saturday to watch Maryland homegrown talent Centrowitz chase after Olympic glory as well as watch FloTrack's 2013 documentary on Centrowitz below.
