Olympian Graham Blanks – ‘The guy who trained in Athens’
Kira Doppel
Jun 4, 2025
Olympic long-distance runner and Athens native Graham Blanks returned to his hometown for two Athens staples: Jittery Joe’s and Twilight. He also shared what’s next for the Olympian and Harvard graduate’s career.
Blanks introduced a new coffee line, “Runner’s High,” in collaboration with Jittery Joe’s and highlighted his professional partnership with New Balance, showcasing the brand’s running shoes and apparel.
At Athens’ Twilight Criterium’s races, Blanks won both the American Pride Bank 5k, with a chip time of 14:07.41, and the $10,000 mile. He posted the first sub-four minute mile the event has seen, with a time of 3:59.025.
Fleet Feet Athens and Oconee presented both running events. Blanks once worked at the Fleet Feet location in Five Points, making that weekend a full-circle moment.
Students skipped class and drove from over an hour away just to meet with Blanks, take a picture and ask him for advice on their careers.
“I wanted to be a part of it, because I love Athens, and it's the city that supported me,” Blanks said. “So there's no question that I wanted to come back and run this race and hopefully give back, hopefully give it more of a reputation, and then maybe it'll grow in the years, and we'll have a cool running event, right before the bike event.”
Blanks’ strong ties to Athens have been a cornerstone to his professional career, with the local support propelling him to Olympic heights.
“As an Athens native, we support the UGA athletes and the teams, but not a lot of them come from Athens," he said. “So it's cool to kind of be an Athens native that's doing this thing.”
Before turning pro, he represented Team USA at the 2024 Olympics and finished ninth in the 5,000 meter race with a time of 13:18.67.
He then went on to win back-to-back NCAA DI Cross Country Championships, which made him the 13th men’s athlete in NCAA history to accomplish this feat.
“I mean, it's something that gives me confidence,” he said. “I see people who have done that before, like, won cross country championships, and I see what they've done, and it brings me a little bit of confidence that I can, hopefully, keep going on the same path as those accomplished runners.”
In December, Blanks ran a 12:59.89 in the 5,000 meters and broke the 13-minute barrier and surpassed the world qualifying time. His time was the second fastest time in NCAA history. Just two days later, he announced he would forgo the rest of his NCAA eligibility to begin his professional career and turned his NIL deal with New Balance into a professional one.
Weeks before his homecoming, Blanks made his professional debut in the 10,000 meter with a time of 26:57.30 to meet the world qualifying standard.
Blanks said that now that he has graduated from Harvard this May with a degree in economics and philosophy, he plans to move back to Athens to continue his training. Most other professional brands would have had him join a specific training group.
“I love New Balance. So it's good to work with a brand that you actually like and trust,” he said. “They also give me a lot of freedom compared to other brands. New Balance supports the athlete through and through.”
Blanks discussed how none of these wins would have been possible without his training at Athens Academy, Harvard, his coaches along the way and his ‘running with fear’ mindset.
“I kind of use my fear of losing to fuel me to win,” Blanks said. “I feel like I’ve been able to close out races strongly and win. It's like, ‘Oh my gosh what if I get caught?’ Which is normally negative and self doubt but I kind of use that to fuel me to keep running. Being scared of losing really leaves only one option, try as hard as you can not to [lose].”
Blanks is now focusing on taking this mindset and applying it to the World Athletics Championships held in Tokyo, Japan beginning Sept. 13, 2025.
Though Blanks’ professional career is just beginning, the idea of legacy cannot be ignored. He discussed how he wants to be an Athenian through and through and does not know how far he will go. He explained that no matter what he is going to try as hard as he can to be the best athlete he can be.
“I think I want part of my legacy, at the very least, to be like the guy who trained in Athens and became one of the best distance runners in the world,” Blanks said.
