Robert Owen Kennedy Jr. (born August 18, 1970 in Bloomington, Indiana) is an American distance runner. Now retired, In 1996 he was ranked 4th in the world at the 5000 meters. He once held the American record in the 3000 meters (7:30.84), 2 miles (8:11.59) and the 5000 meters (12:58.21). He was the first ever non-African to run the 5000 meters in less than thirteen minutes, and he is still one of only seven non-Africans to do so. He is regarded as one of the greatest U.S. distance runners in history. Prep school competition Kennedy was twice state champion in cross country while at Westerville North High School. Kennedy was the 1987 national junior champion in cross country, winning the Kinney Cross Country Championship at Morley Field in San Diego, CA on December 12, 1987. He still holds the OHSAA record for 1600 Meters at 4:05:13. College career Kennedy opted to compete for the Indiana Hoosiers and won 16 Big Ten Conference track titles. In 1988, he won the NCAA Men's Cross Country Championship, becoming one of a few true freshman ever to win the event. He won the NCAA 1500 meter championship in 1990 and the NCAA indoor mile championship in 1991. During his senior year, Kennedy a second NCAA Men's Cross Country Championship and the USATF National Cross Country Championships. He was the second person in history to win both titles in the same year. In fact, nobody had won both titles since Al Lawrence in 1959 and 1960. Kennedy's second USATF National Cross Country title came in 2004. The twelve-year gap between those two titles was the longest in USATF history. Kennedy participated in several World Cross Country championships, finishing as high as 12th place in 1995. Olympics The highlight of Kennedy's career came in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. In the 5000 meter finals, Kennedy surged to the front at the beginning of the penultimate lap and forced the pace. He held the lead for almost a lap and was ultimately passed just before the closing lap, eventually placing 6th. He had also made it to the finals of the 1992 Olympic 5000 m race and placed 12th with a time of 13:39.72 min after running 13:35.76 min in qualifying. He also ran the 5000 m in the World Championships in Athletics for the US in 1991 (12th), 1993, 1995 (12th), 1997 (6th), and 1999 (9th). Kennedy