During the previous two weeks of Olympic competition, James Rivers drew inspiration from several big feats. Matt Centrowitz’ gold-medal effort in the 1,500-meter run on Aug. 20 was one of them.

“Last night’s 1,500 win by Centrowitz definitely was inspiring,” said Rivers, a Barnegat High School assistant track coach and former runner at Stockton University. “Watching him become the first American to win gold in that event since 1908 was awesome.”