Background

Edwardo Torres, the younger (by 10 minutes) twin brother of Jorge Torres, began running as a youngster after Jorge won Junior Nationals (for 11- and 12-year-olds) in Mobile, Ala., on Dec. 12, 1992. “He called me and I could hear him being all happy and satisfied. I don’t think I knew what ‘nationals’ meant until then, every kid my age in the United States. At the airport the next day he came off the plane with a big trophy and I thought, wow, I want to do that, too. I thought, if this guy can run this well, I have the same genes he does.”

Neither Torres twin was afraid of hard work. Their father came to the U.S. when the boys were about 14, as a migrant worker in the fields around Michigan and Ohio for a couple of years. He later worked in a factory in Chicago, and brought his wife up from Mexico to pursue the American dream together. They saved enough to open Torres Jewelry in 1980, the year the twins were born. It was a small store, with only one showcase of jewelry; now the family owns several stores in Chicago. Older brothers Jose and Danny help run the business, with older brother Javier as the accountant. Growing up, the twins also worked in the store on Saturdays and Sundays, helping out with little things, until they started running more seriously in high school.

In 2001, Edwardo helped the University of Colorado win its first NCAA Cross Country Championship, and earned All-American status at 10,000 meters in 2002. He is married to Lynda Jimenez, his sweetheart back at Wheeling High School in Wheeling, Ill. Not surprisingly, Jorge served as his best man.