Chicago Marathon 2011 Results: Ryan Hall's Showing Gives Americans Olympic Hope

With a strong performance at the 2011 Chicago Marathon, Ryan Hall proved an American will be in contention for a medal in the long distance running event at next year's Olympics. The Olympic Games in London are just 290 days away.

There was a lot of hype surrounding Hall prior to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, where he finished a distant 10th. He's made steady progress over the past three years and is in good shape heading into team trials.

While he finished 2 minutes and 27 seconds off the pace in Chicago, there were a lot of positives to take away. Of the top 10 finishers, Hall ran the second-fastest final split. To have that kind of kick left for the home stretch will be key in London.

It was his third-fastest marathon ever, according to his post-race interview with FloTrack.org, which illustrates his positive momentum.

He was five seconds off the per-mile pace of race winner Moses Mosop from Kenya. That adds up over the course of a 26.2-mile race, but Hall shaved two seconds off that deficit when considering third place.

The other good news is that Hall's career-best time of 2 hours, 4 minutes and 58 seconds at the 2011 Boston Marathon would have won Sunday's race had he duplicated it.

It's all aimed toward improving every day in order to reach his peak next summer.

Frank Shorter was the last American man to capture gold in the marathon. He did so in Munich during the 1972 Olympics. Meb Keflezighi claimed silver in 2004 to become the first United States participant to claim a medal since Shorter's silver in '76.

There's still a lot of work for Hall, though. He must qualify for the Olympics through team trials early next year while continuing to improve in the process. His experience in Beijing should have shown him exactly what it takes to run his way to the podium.

If nothing else, as his interview illustrated, he's upbeat about his progression and is looking forward to a special 2012.