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Miami Valley Olympian advances to finals at Tokyo Olympics

Clayton Murphy happy to share Olympic success with supporters at home TORONTO, ON - JULY 23: Clayton Murphy of the United States holds the American flag after he won the men’s 800 meter final during Day 13 of the Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games on July 23, 2015 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

TOKYO — Darke County native, Clayton Murphy, has qualified for the final round in the men’s 800-meter event after finishing second in the race during the semifinals.

Murphy’s first semi-finals race began at 7:25 a.m. Sunday morning.

He finished with a time of 1:44:18.

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News Center 7 spoke with Murphy in April. He said that when the pandemic delayed the 2020 games a year, he used the time to practice and focus on different things in his training.

“I think it really made me better as an athlete going into this year, and that was my build up toward the qualifier,” Murphy said.

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A two-time Olympian, Murphy competed in the 2016 Rio Olympics where he won bronze for the United States.


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