Another Former Midland High Athlete Qualifies For the Olympics

Bryce Hoppel joins Natalie Hinds as former Midland High athletes that will be in the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games.

According to the Midland Reporter-Telegram, Hoppel qualified last night in the men's 800-meter final by placing third with a time of 1:44.14.

Hoppel held his own against a last minute charge by Isaiah Harris, who placed 4th with a time of 1:44.58, and took the third and final spot on the U.S. Olympic team.

“I just had to give everything I had,” Hoppel told NBC Sports in a postrace interview on the broadcast. “That wasn’t me out there. That was all my support, my family, my friends, my coaches, just everybody. I left it all out there and glad to represent this incredible United States and just my family and everybody. It’s just an incredible feeling and these guys pushed the pace and it couldn’t have been a better race.”

Hoppel will be competing in the first round of the men's 800-meters at the Tokyo Olympics on July 31, 2021 at Olympic Stadium.

Hoppel was in second place for the majority of the first lap but fell back to third by the second lap and held that position for the remainder of the race.

The one thing that had the sports world shocked was when Donovan Brazier finished last in the race and did not advance to the Tokyo Olympics. Brazier was ranked #1 in the world in the men's 800-meter coming into the race.

Information on when the race will be broadcast on NewsWest 9 will be coming soon but we do know it will be July 31.