Alameda native Cooper Teare failed to advance past the preliminary heat stage of the men’s 1,500-meter competition at the World Athletic Championships on Saturday, July 16, at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.

Teare finished 13th out of 14 competitors in Heat #1 with a time of 3:41.15. In an interview with FloTrack after his heat, Teare said he was hampered by a stress fracture in his left tibia ,

In the interview, Teare said he couldn’t properly train for the event due to the injury. He said he felt the injury before winning the men’s 1,500-meter race at the U.S. Outdoor Track & Field Championships on June 25 (“Teare Wins 1,500-Meter National Race,” June 29), but wasn’t diagnosed until a week after the Championships, which was also at Hayward Field. Teare said he didn’t run long distance in the three weeks after the championships until the morning of his heat.

Even though Teare finished 13th in Heat #1, he missed advancing to the semifinal stage by less than four seconds. There are three preliminary heats with 14 runners each in the men’s 1,500-meter competition. Per World Championship rules, the top six runners in each heat automatically qualify for one of the two semifinal races. After that, the next six fastest participants, regardless of which heat they raced in, advance to the semifinal round. The ninth fastest runner in Heat #1, Cameron Proceviat of Canada, advanced to the semifinals with a time of 3:37.43. Oliver Hoare of Australia won Heat #1 with a time of 3:36.17.

Teare’s chances of advancing to the semifinals looked promising for most of the race. Heading into the final lap, Teare was in fifth place. However, heading into the final 300 meters, Teare started getting further away from the rest of the runners

“Physically, with 200 [meters] to go, my legs were pretty cooked,” Teare said in the FloTrack interview.

Teare’s time was still better than his first-place time at the U.S. Outdoor Track & Field Championships. In that race, he finished with a time of 3:45.86. Teare would not say if he would take an extended break after the race.

The St. Joseph Notre Dame grad was inducted into the school’s Class of 2022 Athletic Hall of Fame on April 30. Teare, a University of Oregon grad, is signed to the Nike running team.

The race was broadcast on NBC. The final round of the 1,500-meter competition took place Tuesday, July 19.