David Torrence (November 26, 1985 – August 28, 2017) was a Peruvian-American middle-distance runner and indoor American record holder in the 1000 meters (active). Born in

Okinawa, Japan is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 Square kilometre, km2 (880 sq mi). ...

, Torrence was raised in

Tarzana, California Tarzana is a suburban neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Tarzana is on the site of a former ranch owned by author Edgar Rice Burroughs. It is named after Burroughs' fictional jungle hero, Tarzan. History ...

. After graduating from Loyola High School in 2003, he went on to run for the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

and

Hoka One One Hoka One One (stylized as HOKA) is an athletic shoe company originating in Annecy, France that designs and markets running shoes. The brand first gained attention in the running industry by producing shoes with oversized outsoles, dubbed "maximal ...

. Torrence represented

Peru at the 2016 Summer Olympics Peru competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. Since the nation's official debut in 1936, Peruvian athletes have appeared in every edition of the Summer Olympic Games throughout the modern era. Pe ...

Running career

High school

Torrence ran cross country and track at Loyola High School in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. During his junior year, he ran personal bests of 2:01 in the 800m, 4:35 in the 1600m, and 10:01 in the 3200m. He improved significantly during his senior year, improving in all three of those distances and winning state titles. By the end of his senior year, his personal bests had lowered to 1:58 in the 800m, 4:11 in the 1600m, and 9:05 in the 3200m. Also during his senior year, he led his team to a state and

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cross country title in the fall while placing 3rd in the 1600m at the

CIF California State Meet The CIF California State Meet is the annual championship track and field meet for the California Interscholastic Federation. The meet was started in 1915 for boys and 1974 for girls. Every athlete in every high school in California has a direc ...

during the outdoor track season. By the end of the year, he ranked in the top ten in the state for both the 1600m and the 3200m.

Collegiate

In college, Torrence competed for the

. In his cross country season in 2003, he placed 44th at the Pac-10 Championships and 73rd at the NCAA West Regional with times of 26:28 and 31:36, respectively. In 2004, he won the National Junior Championships in the 1500m, qualifying for the World Junior Championships. There, he set the UC Berkeley freshman record in the 1500m with a time of 3:43.62. Later on his career, at the Brutus Hamilton Invitational in 2006, he ran a 4:07.55 in the mile. In his final year of cross country at UC Berkeley, he made the All-West Region team, finishing 13th at the West Regional. This qualified him for the

NCAA Cross Country Championships NCAA Cross Country Championship may refer to several annual competitions in cross country running organised by the National Collegiate Athletic Association: *NCAA Men's Division I Cross Country Championship *NCAA Men's Division II Cross Country Cha ...

in which he placed 92nd out of 250. His final track season at Berkeley was one of success, improving upon his personal bests at multiple distances. He set the mile record for his school with a time of 3:58.62 at the California Collegiate Challenge. At the

PAC-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

Championships he set a PB in the 800m with a time of 1:49.87, but would go on to lower his best time in three more events that season: the 1500m at the USA Championships with a time of 3:40.8, the 3000m at the Big Meet with a time of 8:16.63, and the 5000m at the Stanford Invitational with a time of 13:59.65.

Professional

Success came for Torrence shortly after leaving college. At the

2009 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships The 2009 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships took place between June 25–28 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. The competition acted as a way of selecting the United States team for the 2009 World Championships in Athletics in Berlin later ...

, Torrence finished 17th in a time of 3:42.40. He won the USA Road Mile championships at the Medtronic TC 1 Mile in 2009, and would go on to win it again twice more in the two years after.

2010 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships The 2010 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships were held at Drake Stadium, Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa on June 23–27, 2010. In order to boost the visibility of this event, USATF sponsored a member appreciation tent at the event and ...

, Torrence finished 4th in a tactical 1500 meters in a time of 3:51.80. At the

2011 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships The 2011 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships were held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. Organised by USA Track and Field, the four-day competition took place from June 23–26 and served as the national championships in track and field for ...

, Torrence finished 6th in the 1500 meters in a time of 3:48.31. In 2012, he won the Falmouth Mile with a time of 3:55.79. Later that year, he set a personal best (that remains as his personal best today) in the mile at the Pre Classic with a 3:52.01, making him the fastest American that year in the mile. At the 2012 United States Trials, Torrence finished sixth in the 1500 meters in a time of 3:37.70. At the

2013 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships The 2013 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships was held at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa. Organised by USA Track and Field, the four-day competition took place June 20–23 in conjunction with the USA Junior Outdoor Track & Field Champions ...

, Torrence finished seventh in a tactical 1500 meters with a time of 3:46.26. His 2013 season got off to a late start due to an injury but, regardless of this, he was still able to have a relatively successful year, despite Torrence feeling like he could do better. He ultimately set his sights on the American record in the road 5k. He made an attempt at the record that fall at the Silicon Valley Turkey Trot, but he finished with a time of 13:33, 9 seconds shy of the 13:24 record. Torrence had a record setting indoor season in 2014, setting the American Record for the indoor 1000m, the World Record in the indoor 4x800 and also running under the previous American Record in the 2000m, although

Bernard Lagat Bernard Kipchirchir Lagat (born December 12, 1974) is a Kenyan-American middle and long-distance runner. Lagat was born in Kapsabet, Kenya. Prior to his change of domicile to the US, Lagat had an extensive competitive career representing his ...

was able to run even faster that same race and take the record. Torrence split a 3:36 1500 meters in the 4 × 1500 meters at the

IAAF World Relays The World Athletics Relays, known as the ''IAAF World Relays'' until 2019, is an international biennial track and field sporting event held by World Athletics where teams from around the world compete in relay races, some of which are not part of ...

on May 25, 2014, to help United States finish 2nd only to Kenya. At the

2014 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships The 2014 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships was held at Hornet Stadium in Sacramento, California. Organised by USA Track and Field, the four-day competition took place June 26–29 in conjunction with the USA Junior Combined Events Outdoor ...

, Torrence finished seventeenth in a tactical 1500 meters with a time of 3:45.35. After previously running for

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine give ...

, on November 25, 2014, it was announced that he had signed with

. At the

2015 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships The 2015 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships were held at Hayward Field, University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon. Organized by USA Track and Field, the four-day competition took place June 25–28 and served as the national championships in ...

, Torrence finished fifth in a tactical 5000 meters with a time of 13:52.24. A week later, at the Portland Summer Twilight, Torrence took the 800m win over Chad Noelle of

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

with a time of 1:48.04 (Noelle went 1:48.06). Torrence won the 2015 national title at the United States 5k road championships. The

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

(IOC) confirmed that the athlete David Torrence, an American, was enabled to compete defending Peru in the Rio 2016

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

Games, accessing request for a change of nationality as the athlete had requested through the Committee Olympic Peruano – June 2, 2016. Torrence qualified to the final in a national record in 13:23.20 at

Athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Men's 5000 metres The men's 5000 metres event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place between 16 and 20 August at the Olympic Stadium. Summary Mo Farah entered as the favourite for the race, having won the 2012 Olympic title as well as the last two World Champio ...

. Torrence set the Peru record in the mile run on June 1, 2017, when he won the event at the

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

-based Adrian Martinez Classic in 3 minutes, 53.21 seconds. He broke the 1,500-meter record 17 days later when he ran 3:34.67 to finish eighth at the

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fourteen of the best invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics (formerly known as the IAAF) one-day mee ...

meet in Sweden.

Death

Torrence was found dead in a swimming pool in

Scottsdale, Arizona , settlement_type = City , named_for = Winfield Scott , image_skyline = , image_seal = Seal of Scottsdale (Arizona).svg , image_blank_emblem = City of Scottsdale Script Logo.svg , nick ...

, on August 28, 2017, at the age of 31. His death was ruled as accidental

drowning Drowning is a type of suffocation induced by the submersion of the mouth and nose in a liquid. Most instances of fatal drowning occur alone or in situations where others present are either unaware of the victim's situation or unable to offer a ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Torrence, David 1985 births 2017 deaths Sportspeople from Okinawa Prefecture People from Tarzana, Los Angeles Track and field athletes from Los Angeles American male middle-distance runners American sportspeople of Peruvian descent Peruvian male middle-distance runners Peruvian people of American descent Sportspeople of American descent Pan American Games track and field athletes for the United States Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2015 Pan American Games Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Peru World Athletics indoor record holders (relay) World Athletics Championships athletes for Peru Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games Deaths by drowning in the United States