INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – After an incredible 2023-24 collegiate season, Harvard track & field junior Graham Blanks will run the 5,000m in France this summer, as he will compete for Team USA at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Blanks is the second Crimson on Team USA's track & field roster, joining Gabby Thomas '19.

A native of Athens, Georgia, Blanks heads to after stellar campaigns on the trail and on the track. Following his triumph at the 2023 NCAA Cross Country Championships, Blanks orchestrated a historic performance in his first track of meet of the season at the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener. Blanks stunned the crowd at the BU Track & Tennis Center, setting a then NCAA record in the 5,000m with a time of 13:03.78, achieving the Olympic standard in the process.

Blanks found even more success in the outdoor season. After opening the season with a fourth-place finish in the 5,000m at the Wake Forest Invitational, Blanks dominated at the 2024 Ivy League Heptagonal Outdoor Championships, taking first place in the 5,000m with a time of 13:47.34. In Lexington, Kentucky, Blanks took third place at the NCAA East Region First Round, securing his spot in the 5,000m final at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

At Hayward Field, Blanks took fifth place in the 5,000m, earning All-America First Team recognition. In his second race in Eugene in the month of June, Blanks took center stage in the 5,000m on the final day of the U.S. Olympic Trials, as he broke his own Ivy League record in the outdoor 5,000m with a time of 13:12.61.

Track & Field competition begins on Thursday, Aug. 1 and ends on Friday, Aug. 11, as Blanks will run the first round of the 5,000m on Wednesday, Aug. 7. NBC and Peacock will air all the action from Paris.

For complete coverage of Harvard Track & Field, follow us on Twitter (@HarvardTFXC) and Instagram (@harvardtfxc).