In high school, McGorty achieved success in state- and national-level competitions, including a second-place finish at the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships. He attended Stanford University from 2013 to 2018, where he won an NCAA title over 5000 m. Upon graduation, McGorty turned professional to compete for the Nike-sponsored Bowerman Track Club.
Early life and youth sports
Sean McGorty grew up in Chantilly, Virginia in a family with a background in track and field.[2][3] His parents met while competing in the sport for the University of North Carolina. His father was a decathlete who participated in the U.S. Olympic trials in 1988 and 1992. McGorty has two brothers who also pursued running, with one who competed for Stanford and the other for William and Mary.
McGorty attended Chantilly High School in Fairfax, Virginia. He was initially involved in soccer and basketball but switched to running after trying cross country in his freshman year. In his first season competing in cross country, he recorded 16:26 in a 5 km race.[4] Encouraged by his success, the high schooler moved on to indoor track. Describing his transition to running, McGorty stated in an interview, "When [indoor track] continued to go well, I decided to do outdoor track. After that spring season, I left my club soccer team and decided to run all year."[3] He became a state champion in cross country, the 1600 meters, and the 3200 meters.
In his senior year in 2012, he placed second at the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships, behind Edward Cheserek.[5] At the 2013 New Balance Outdoor Nationals, he won the 2-mile race in a time of 8:45.61, the fastest ever for a Virginia high school boy.[6] McGorty also set the high school boy's mile meet record at the 2013 Penn Relays with a time of 4:04.47.[7] For college, he chose Stanford University among offers from several institutions, including Princeton and Georgetown.[8]
While at Stanford University, McGorty won an NCAA title and recorded multiple All-American finishes. He competed in the NCAA Division I men's cross country championships four times, with a highest finish of seventh in 2015. While competing in track, McGorty achieved several top finishes in the mile. In January 2015, he ran the mile in 3:59.34, becoming the first collegiate runner to achieve a sub-four minute mile in 2015.[9] In 2016, he improved his time in the indoor mile to 3:53.95, finished less than a second behind Izaic Yorks.[10]
On July 14, 2018, McGorty competed for the first time in Europe at the Guldensporenmeeting in Kortrijk, Belgium, where he won the 1500 meters in a personal best of 3:36.61. The following month, McGorty announced that he had joined the Bowerman Track Club, a Nike-sponsored group coached by Jerry Schumacher. In June 2019, McGorty experienced a severe pain in his foot during training. He was diagnosed with a Staphylococcal infection in his heel bone, leading to multiple surgeries throughout the year. McGorty made a successful recovery and resumed competing in February 2020. In June 2020, he set a personal best of 13:11.22 in the 5000 m.[15]
2021
McGorty began competing in the 3000 meters steeplechase in May 2021, with the aim of qualifying in the event for the 2020 Summer Olympics.[16] On 9 May, in his first race at the distance, he recorded a time of 8:20.77, meeting the qualifying standard for the Olympics. This time was the fastest debut ever in the event by an American. During the 2020 US Olympic Trials, held in June 2021, McGorty stopped mid-race in a preliminary round to fix a loose shoe, losing about 10 seconds.[17] Despite this, his time was fastest enough to qualify for the final round. In the finals, he finished seventh, missing the top three needed to qualify for the Olympics. In a post-race interview, he expressed disappointment and attributed his performance to negative thinking, stating, "I let myself get out of the race mentally."[18]
2022
At the 10000m of the 2023 World Championships, Mcgorty is shown in red kit, to middle of the pack and left of center
On 27 May 2022, McGorty placed third place in the 10000 m at the 2022 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.[19] This top-three finish qualified him for this event at the 2022 World Athletics Championships, held in Eugene, Oregon on July 17, 2022. At the World Championships, he finished 12th in 27:46.30. The following month, McGorty ran 3:36.67 for 1500 m and 3:54.51 for the mile. His final race of the year was at the NACAC Championships, where he won a gold medal in the 10000 m.[20]
2023
At the 2023 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, McGorty placed third in both the 5000 m and 10000 m.[21] While the USATF selects the top three finishers from each event for the world championships, McGorty had not initially met the qualifying standard of 13:13.50 in the 5000 m, a prerequisite for participating in the 2023 World Championships.[22][23] However, he met the standard for the 5000 m on July 15, 2023 by running 13:02.13 at a meet in Heusden, Belgium.[24] During the 2023 World Championships, McGorty finished 16th in the 10000 m and did not progress past the preliminary rounds in the 5000 m.
2024
At the US Olympic Trials, McGorty place sixth in the final of the 5000 m.[25] It was his first race of the year after recovering from injury.
Achievements
All information from athlete's profile on World Athletics.[1]
McGorty (left of center) in the 5000m.
McGorty embraces teammate Grant Fisher after winning the race.
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