Vincent Ciattei Wins First US 5000m Title: From 1500m Heartbreak to National Gold | Post-Race Interview 2026 USATF
Just 24 hours after a heartbreaking 0.05-second loss in the 1500m final, 31-year-old Vincent Ciattei bounced back to claim his first outdoor national championship in the Men's 5000m. Entering as the 10th seed, Ciattei breaks down executing a patient tactical race, reacting to Grant Fisher's late scratch, trusting six years of professional building, and preparing for the World Road Mile Championships in Copenhagen.
Video Transcript
Good.
In that moment taking a time of five, Cole Hockross from Downstate was taking it one, what was going through your head?
Yeah, I mean, he pretty much showed the path with that.
I'm not comparing myself to him, but, yeah, I, I, I knew I had a real good shot to win yesterday in the 15.
I, Nathan's great, so I mean, it's a good race.
Like, I, I could've executed better, like, but I That really motivated me today.
Like, I, I really wanted to leave this weekend with a title.
I did not think it would be in the 5K, but you know, I switched right into that mindset today, and it worked out.
Yeah.
So was there any kind of just like, you know, after the way the 15 played out, did you have any thoughts in mind of like, maybe we should, you know, take the 5K out a little faster, so that doesn't necessarily happen?
Well, it's a little different in the 5K when I'm like the 10th seed.
You know, like in the 15, I was the top seed.
It might have behooved me to run a little faster from the front.
5K, I was in, in a way, even more confident that I was gonna have the best speed, so I thought I could just sort of let the race play out and, and be patient, you know?
That's like your way of just setting up.
Yeah.
I think I was a little I, when I saw the gaps forming, I was like, "Okay, you know, I gotta stay awake.
I gotta stay engaged."
My teammate Casey sort of made a great move that really opened things up, and I was able to, you know, lock in and see him going, and go, "Okay, you know, I gotta, I gotta stick with him 'cause I know how capable he is," so yeah.
What is the feeling to have your first national title in the 5K and not the 15?
Well, you guys said last night, you were like, "Oh, he missed his best window to get a national title on the track," so, it's nice to prove that wrong 24 hours later.
But yeah, I, I'll give this caveat now that I won, I haven't lost like a 3,200 or 3K championship since like 2011.
That's a super skewed stat, 'cause I've run one in the past like 12 years, and it was the slow heat at ACCs.
But I do back myself if I'm strong enough.
It just took six years of being a pro athlete to be strong enough to even consider racing one at nationals.
Yeah.
So, yeah.
But have you always been thinking about that, like having the 5K in the back of your mind, like this could be an option for me down the line?
Not necessarily with the strength.
I mean, you know, there's a lot of great 5K guys that were missing from the race today, and it was still a really strong field.
So not necessarily.
I still think my strength is in the 15.
But I mean, it's pretty freaking cool that, you know, I'm definitely gonna have to run more now.
Like, it was super strange, so.
When you went to bed last night, was your head just spinning?
Yeah, I didn't fall asleep until pretty late, and it, it wasn't because I was like super gassed from the race.
I was just sort of like, "Uh, this and that, and this and that."
When you lose by 100th of a second, like, you know, it was real close.
Like, you put one hard step in one different time, it could be different.
So, yeah, but again, it's just the best way to, you know, to fix that is to come and just give all I've got today, you know?
I was happy to be able to do that.
Did you have any regrets about yesterday and any decisions you made in the race?
I think, you know, it j- it was just so slow, and, and I Like, I backed myself to do it.
Every miler backs themself in that sort of race, you know?
So, and I think, you know, I just had to learn the hard way that Green positions himself better, and he wins.
Like, he deserves it.
Like, I think I should have just, you know, backed myself to go a little earlier, something like that, and then who knows?
Like, it could have still been the same result, but when you're that close and you don't get it, you're inevitably like, "Oh, what could I have done different?"
Does it make it more special that you waited over a decade to You've been fourth, you've been fifth so many times.
I'd say so.
I mean, I've li- I've, I've quite literally climbed the ladder like fourth, third, second, first in the past like two years.
So, yeah, I'm pretty sad that my mom wasn't here, 'cause they were here yesterday, but they drove back to Baltimore and watched it on TV today.
But I'm damn happy that I, you know, can call her in a bit and then have a gold medal around my neck.
Why didn't, why didn't she stay?
Was she, was she worried about your best chance?
They were just, they were just planning for the 15, and they get so stressed watching me, I don't think they could have handled another day out here.
Okay.
So, yeah.
When did you find out Fisher wasn't running?
What was your reaction to that?
Literally like right before I warmed up.
And I was like, if anything, I was like, "Okay, that means it might stay slow just a little bit longer."
I feel like, you know, he's capable of going out and running 3:52 for the last mile of a race like this, so I thought it probably suited me a little better that, that he wasn't here.
But, you know, at the same time, like, I'm probably not gonna be hanging out in last for the mile to go if he's in the race.
You know, you've got to be a little more attentive to the front, so yeah.
You said this has been in the works for a really long time.
Can you s- tell me what you would tell yourself when you first became pro, kind of not losing hope and able to get to this moment right here?
Yeah.
I mean, I would've had to been telling that to myself yesterday .
You know, like, like I did think yesterday was a really good shot, and I was, I was frustrated that I couldn't get it done.
So yeah, I think, you know, I would've just told myself to, to have patience.
I think I'm gonna Over the years, I've had to sort of trust and learn that I'm on a, my own trajectory, and that might not have meant winning an NCAA title, and that might not have meant of, you know, being one of the best when I'm 22 or 23 years old.
But it does make it a little sweeter that I've stuck with it this long.
I'm 31, and now I'm doing things I've, I've never done before, so yeah, it's awesome.
What else do you have in store for the rest of the season?
Go back to Flagstaff and train for a few weeks.
I've got Celestia on, August 23rd, and, you know, the strength in the 5K makes me really excited about those type races.
Like, go try to mix it up, and, and the whole year has sort of been revolving around those Copenhagen, world road mile champs in, in September.
So that's, you know, it's the last race of the season.
That's what I'm really gunning for, and, yeah, I'm, you know, trending well two months out, so yeah.
Congratulations.
Congratulations.
Yeah, thanks.
I finally did it.
