Wheeling High School grad chasing Olympic dreams

A restless, uneasy feeling is just what Jorge Torres wants right now.

One where his stomach is churning because Torres' competitive fires are burning. It's how the 1999 Wheeling High School graduate has always felt a couple of weeks before his biggest races.

And Torres is awaiting - nervously, he hopes - the biggest race of his life on Aug. 17 when he runs the 10,000 meters for the United States in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.

So it's pretty clear how he felt before he qualified for the Olympics for the first time by finishing third in the U.S. Olympic Trials on July 4 at historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.

"Two weeks out, I had that feeling before (the Olympic Trials)," said Torres, who turns 28 on Aug. 26. "Before I won the national title in college (2002 cross country at Colorado) and the state titles in high school (three straight cross country titles from 1996-98), I get nervous two weeks out. I'm feeling ready, and it's a good feeling I have."

There was no better feeling for the son of Mexican immigrants than knowing he would finally represent his country in the Olympics. Torres finished the race in 27:46.33 to earn the third and final spot in the 10,000 by nearly six seconds and join Abdi Abdirahman (27:41.89) and Galen Rupp (27:43.11) in Beijing.

"It's a lifelong dream and something I've been chasing since a very young age," said Torres, whose twin brother Edwardo finished 11th in the 10,000-meter trials. "The last 100 meters of the Olympic Trials I realized my dream had come true. It's something you can't express in words, but a picture says a million things.

"Initially a lot of emotions went through my head and I realized all the work I had done led up to a big goal like making the Olympic team. It hit me the next day when a guy said 'Congratulations' in the elevator. It made me realize what I had done."

Not that it was an easy trip for someone accustomed to reaching the finish line ahead of most of his competition since he was a sensation at MacArthur Middle School in Prospect Heights for coach Greg Fedyski, who is still one of the most important figures in Torres' life. Torres took his first shot at Olympic glory in 2004, but he finished seventh in the 5,000.

After that, he injured his groin and suffered a stress fracture in his femur. Torres also had to adjust to the mental aspects of running professionally.

"It was a big slap in the face," Torres said. "No one is there for you anymore."

Then Torres made two significant changes. The first was switching to running the 10,000.

Torres saw an immediate payoff for the long run when he won the 10,000 title at the 2006 USA outdoor championships. While he excelled at cross country, this was his first track title since junior high.

"I always knew I was more of a distance-oriented guy," said Torres, who has also run the marathon. "Now I was in the middle of the race saying, 'This is easy, this is great.'

"I'm a more fluid runner and I can go on forever. For some reason, the 10K feels like a lot more comfortable race and I feel more confident."

Adding to Torres' confidence was the arrival of Steve Jones as his coach. Jones, a legendary long-distance runner, won the first of consecutive Chicago Marathon titles in world-record time in 1984.

Jones also lives in Boulder, Colo., and had supported Torres during his college career. Torres was in search of a coach and joined forces with Jones last August.

Torres said the workouts with the native of Wales weren't much different. The mental aspect was another.

"He elevated me to a whole different level and got me thinking beyond just making the team for the Olympics," Torres said. "He got me thinking like a world-class athlete. The mind-set Steve Jones gave me, it was a breath of fresh air."

The changes and four years of maturity showed in the Olympic trials. Now Torres will take his best shot at a race in which only two Americans have won Olympic medals - the last the memorable gold by Billy Mills in 1964.

Torres' 10K personal best is 27:42.91. The winning time in the 2004 Games was 27:05.1 and the bronze medalist ran 27:22.57.

But Torres said the way he feels and has trained has put him where he needs to be to succeed - even if that doesn't translate to a medal.

"People ask all the time - are you ready to medal," Torres said. "To medal, a lot of things have to go right. Guys who are 27, 26:50 guys are obviously a lot faster than me in a race that's paced.

"But that's why you run the race and why you play the games. If you run the race, you never know. With 25 laps, so many things play a factor into who gets medals.

"It's one of those opportunities to take advantage of the situation and maybe be lucky and get a medal. You've got to be ready for the opportunity and ready to grab it and take it."

Torres knows this isn't his only shot. He'll definitely take a run at the 2012 Olympic Games in the 10K or the marathon.

But he also isn't looking at his race in Beijing as simply experience for the future.

"Opportunities to run at the Olympic Games don't come around too often," Torres said. "An opportunity like I have come August 17, I've got to take full advantage of it because nobody knows what comes around tomorrow."

Jorge Torres hopes the next few days are filled with the anxiety that makes a stomach turn.

"That would be a good indicator," Torres said with a laugh.