Wednesday at 10:05 AM EST former Hawk, Paul Chelimo, will take to the track at Olympic Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for the preliminary race of the 5000m as one of three athletes representing the United States.

Chelimo was a freshman at Shorter when the Hawks won both the Indoor and Outdoor NAIA National Championships during the 2011 season. And, played a huge role in each of those team titles. At the indoor championship he earned top honors in the 3000m and was part of the winning distance medley team; before winning both the 5000m and 10,000m distances during the outdoor championships.

To earn his spot on the US Olympic Team, Chelimo turned in a 5000m time of 13:35.92 at the US Trials last month, finishing third behind Bernard Lagat (13:35.50) and Hassan Mead (13:35.70), respectively. 

Should he advance out of the preliminary round, the final will be held on Saturday, August 20 at 9:30 PM EST on NBC.

**UPDATED** Chelimo finished the prelims with the fastest time of all competitors (13:19.54) to earn a spot in Saturday's finals; which will take place at 8:30 PM EST on NBC and www.nbcolympics.com.