Staff Sgt. John Nunn, an active-duty soldier with the Army World Class Athlete Program, qualified for his third U.S. Olympic team Sunday by taking first place in the 50-kilometer race walk trials outside San Diego.

Nunn, 38, finished in 4 hours, 3 minutes, 21 seconds, besting the runner-up by nearly 20 minutes. He defended his 2012 U.S. trials title at the event and was the only American to earn a spot in the Rio de Janeiro Games — no other contestants met the qualifying standard.

The win came despite a severe bout of flu that cleared up just hours before the Sunday-morning starting gun, Nunn said in a report at TeamUSA.org. After spending all of Saturday in bed, "I had no idea how I would do this," he said in the report.

Nunn joined the Army in 2000 and serves as a dental hygiene specialist, according to the WCAP website. He took 43rd in the 2012 Summer Games in London in the 50-kilometer race walk, and was 26th in 2004 in Athens in the 20-kilometer event.

Staff Sgt. John Nunn

Photo Credit: Army

More WCAP members could punch tickets to the August games at the U.S. Olympic wrestling trials in April. Three soldier-grapplers made the 2012 Olympics.

About Kevin Lilley

Kevin Lilley is the features editor of Military Times.

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