March 19, 2016
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PORTLAND, Oregon — Former University of Iowa All-American Erik Sowinski earned a bronze medal Saturday night in the 800 meters at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Portland, Oregon.
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Sowinski entered the field with an at-large invitation and finished the 800 meters in 1:47.22 at the Oregon Convention Center, placing third behind Antoine Gakeme (1:46.65) and world champion Boris Berian (1:45.83).
“I was stuck in the back a little bit but Boris got the crowd going so it’s a testament to how he raced and he really set that up to be a heck of a race,” Sowinski said. “I just wanted to keep my nose in there. It was a little pushy throughout the entire thing and I just wanted to stay in contention and be able to make a move with 150 to go. Fortunately I had enough there to hold on for a medal.”
Sowinski competed at Iowa from 2009-12. He was a seven-time All-American and two-time Big Ten champion. He owns or shares seven school records, and was named an Academic All-American in 2012.
He previously represented Team USA at the 2014 World Indoor Championships in Sopot, Poland, and the 2015 World Outdoor Championships in Beijing, China.
“It’s just a testament to hard work,” Sowinski said. “Seeing where Boris came from is inspiring to me. Me coming out of college I didn’t have a sponsorship and was working 40-hours-a-week at a running store and it ended up paying off for me. So being able to see guys like Boris do that will hopefully inspire other guys to do the same thing. You don’t need a five-star lifestyle to be competitive in this sport. Trust in your training and stay positive and anything can happen. Boris is a huge testament to that — props to him today.”
