Jon Rankin

Jon Byron Rankin (born 9 February 1982) is an American born retired Caymanian middle and long-distance track and field runner. The highlight of his track and field career was winning the USA Junior Outdoor Track & Field Championships at 1500 metres and the 2007 Emsley Carr Mile in England. He is the CEO of Go Be More, who design apparel. He is also a copywriter working for various organisations and for himself.

Rankin graduated from Monte Vista High School in Spring Valley, California. He then went on to attend the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) where he studied for a Bachelor of Arts degree in English language. In 2004 he became UCLA's number one runner for the season and was an All-American. On 9 April 2005, he became then the 17th African American and 268th American overall to run a sub four-minute mile. He graduated from UCLA in 2005.

Athletics career

After graduating, he turned professional as a sponsored athlete with Nike. Rankin trained and raced throughout the US and Europe. On 11 August 2007 he won the Emsley Carr Mile in Manchester, England in a personal best time of 3:54.24, A year later in 2008, at the time of the United States Olympic Trials, he was diagnosed with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), although his official diagnosis didn't come about until the end of 2008. FSGS is estimated to occur in 2-3 persons per million, with males and African peoples at higher risk. Later in 2011, Rankin underwent an experimental stem cell surgery to reverse his disease.

Earlier, on 1 October 2009, Rankin decided to switch his allegiance to the Cayman Islands, "Jon is eligible to do this because both of his parents were born in the Cayman Islands," wrote his manager, Merhawi Keflezighi. He retired from professional competitive racing at the end of 2012. In 2015 Rankin was inducted into the National Black Distance Running Hall of Fame by the National Black Marathoners’ Association.

Personal bests

Competitions

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event
Representing  United States
2001	USA Track & Field Junior National Championships	Sports Backers Stadium, Richmond, Virginia, USA	1st	1500 metres
2007	Emsley Carr Mile	Stretford Stadium, Manchester, England	1st	Mile
2008	United States Olympic Trials	Hayward Field, Eugene, Oregon, USA	6th	1500 metres
2009	Fifth Avenue Mile	Fifth Avenue, New York City, USA	13th	Mile
Representing  Cayman Islands
2010	UAE Healthy Kidney 10K	New York City, USA	23rd	10,000 metres
	Commonwealth Games	Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Delhi, India	14th	800 metres
			17th	1500 metres
2011	IAAF World Cross Country Championships	Punta Umbría, Spain	98th	Cross country
	Central American and Caribbean Championships	Mayagüez Athletics Stadium, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico	3rd	1500 metres
	Pan American Games	Estadio de Béisbol Charros de Jalisco y Atletismo, Zapopan, Mexico	7th	800 metres
			4th	1500 metres
2012	UW (University of Washington) Invitational	Dempsey Indoor, Seattle, Washington, USA	5th	Mile
	Retired From Professional Athletics
2013	Jacksonville River Run	Jacksonville, Florida, USA	49th	15,000 metres

Career outside of athletics

Since graduating, outside of athletics, Rankin has been a freelance senior copywriter, and since 2018 he has been the chief executive officer of both Go Be More and Catchy Content Co.