The first 10 years of Meb Keflezighi’s life were full of fear and poverty in Eritrea.
He worried about the African country’s war with Ethiopia and whether his older brothers might have to fight.
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If they were forced into battle, he could be next.
When Keflezighi was 5, his father fled to Sudan and then to Italy to find work, sending money and clothes to his children.
At 10, Keflezighi’s family moved to Milan, Italy, to be with his father. They spent 1 1/2 years there and, on Oct. 21, 1987, the family arrived in San Diego.
“A special day,” Keflezighi called it.
Over the next 10 years Keflezighi immersed himself in American culture and in long-distance running, which helped him earn a scholarship to UCLA.
Since then, Keflezighi has been rising in the ranks of elite runners but was always a step shy of a breakthrough. Until Sunday.
Keflezighi left his mark in Olympic history for the U.S. with a silver-medal finish in 2 hours 11 minutes 29 seconds. Stefano Baldini of Italy won gold in 2:10:55, and Vanderlei Lima of Brazil took bronze.
Keflezighi gave the U.S. its 103rd medal of these Games but its first in the marathon since Frank Shorter won silver in 1976.
Keflezighi was a year old at the time.
“This is my most high-level international finish,” said Keflezighi, who became a U.S. citizen in 1998. “I’m delighted to be on the medal stand.”
His finish, along with Deena Kastor’s bronze in the women’s marathon, gives new hope to U.S. distance running.
“This is a bigger project than just Meb,” his coach, Bob Larsen, said.
“Here’s someone who can help other guys realize their goals because they, after all, ran with him and, in fact, defeated him.”
Although Keflezighi won four NCAA track titles, he progressed slowly because of injuries, though Larsen saw glimpses of his potential.
“If they’re going to be good, they’re going to be at their best in their late 20s,” Larsen said.
Nineteen years after leaving Eritrea, Keflezighi, 29, is fulfilling the promise he showed at UCLA. He competes wearing a shiny pin bearing tiny flags of the U.S. and Eritrea.
He congratulated 10,000-meter bronze medalist Zersenay Tadesse of Eritrea earlier in the Games for becoming that country’s first Olympic medalist.
“That medal was huge,” Keflezighi said. “I was so happy for Eritrea. The first medal ever. Now it’s my turn.”