By Elliot Denman // Photo by Ross Dettman

RIO de JANEIRO – Bernard Lagat’s rush to the 5000-meter title at the U.S. Olympic Trials at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, five weeks ago, was one for the books. At the revered stadium that adds the word “historic” to its formal title, Lagat’s run was historic, too.

It was the strongest of personal statements that: (a) This Armory favorite is far from being over the hill. (b) You can never count out this amazing man who’s already been counted out a zillion times yet always finds a way to come back, all the way back.

Born in Kapsabet, Kenya, Dec. 12, 1974, the 41-year-old Lagat is the oldest 2016 U.S. track and field Olympian but not by much of a margin – Olympic marathoner Meb Keflezighi was born in Asmara, Eritrea on May 5, 1975.

Washington State University grad Lagat's final time of 13:35.0 at the Trials was pretty much pedestrian by world standards.  The world record is 12:37.35 and Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele set it in 2004; it's a time that would nearly have lapped Lagat's Trials time of 2016. But it’s the way these big-time 5000-meter races are run these days that is the biggest reason Lagat cannot be counted out.

Realistically speaking, a 5000-meter race that is run rabbited-style on the Diamond League circuit would pretty much rule out any chance of Lagat winning it here. But run it the way 5000-meter championship races are run these days – jog 10 or 11 laps, then turn sprinter and dash it all the way home – and Lagat still has a chance, a good chance.

That’s the way Mohammed “Mo” Farah won the 5000 title at the London Games – jog a lot, then sprint like the wind  – and that’s the way  Lagat has won a lot of his big races, too. He’s often proved an uncanny master of maneuvering through heavy traffic, finding the slightest of gaps, then slithering through and dashing on home.

The Trials 5000 proved this point all over again. After 11.5 un-fast laps, the sprint was on. And Lagat closed with a 52.82 final lap to steal it all and clinch his ticket to Rio. He’d spotted over a decade to his leading contenders, then outsprinted them all to the wire. Lagat's devastating sprint won at the Trials over younger guy Hassan Mead (13:35.92), who in turn held off Paul Chelimo (13:35.98.)

Can the Fountain of Youth actually be found in the Arizona desert, somewhere near the Lagat residence in Tucson?  Maybe just maybe.

“I train with young guys,” Lagat told the media when the celebrations at Trials had concluded.  The "kids" keep him up on his toes.  And he keeps the "kids" out of any form of complacency.

At 5-8 and 128 pounds, he keeps "lean and mean," too. A huge highlight of the 2015 indoor season was Lagat's world Masters Mile record performance of 3:54.91 at the Armory's NYRR Millrose Games. And there to shake his hand and offer his most sincere congrats was Eamonn Coghlan, the former "Chairman of the Boards," now a Senator in the Ireland parliament.  The former Villanovan had gone 3:58.14 at age 41, but now ranked Number Two on the all-time Masters Mile charts.

The word "retirement" is never to be mentioned in polite conversation involving Lagat.  There's simply no room for it in his personal lexicon.

Lagat's fifth Olympic Games opens with the 5000-meter trials on Wednesday at Estadio Olimpico.  The best of them get to move into the championship final at 9:30 p.m. Saturday.

High-high on Lagat's list of major honors achieved, of course, are his eight wins in the NYRR Millrose Games' NYRR Wanamaker Mile.  For decades a fixture at Madison Square Garden, the Millrose meet - and its fans, and its celebrity runners - have now found happiness at the Armory. and on its "world's fastest" indoor oval. They will always love Lagat at the NYRR Millrose Games and it's an emotion that extends in both directions.

Twice a World Outdoor champion, Lagat struck double gold in the 1500 and 5000 at the Osaka Worlds of 2007. He ran his first two Olympic races for Kenya, claiming the bronze medal in the 1500 at Sydney in 2000, and then the silver at Athens in 2004.

By now a proud U.S. citizen, Lagat next became a proud U.S. Olympian.

Beijing 2008 wasn't his best Games – he lost out in the semifinals of the 1500, then placed ninth in the 5000 final. But he was right back in the mix at London 2012. With 4600 meters run at (well, almost) marathoners' pace, the real race was on, Farah was fortunate enough to find a gap and thus able to sprint on home to complete his double.  Lagat found no such fortune and ran out of running room. All sprint lanes were occupied. Best that he could manage was a traffic-impeded sprint into fourth place.

His 2012 Olympic time was a stunningly slow 13:42.99, another clear indication how these jog-then-sprint title races often evolve.

So here we are on the eve of another huge twelve-and-a-half lapper.

Anyone who counts the 41-year-old who loves running with the "kids" out of it before he's even in it will be making a humongous mistake. You've just got to love this man who has thumbed his nose at Father Time, time after time after time, and is ready to do it all over again.