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UPDATED LONDON -- Levins can officially be called an Olympian, he has run the fastest Olympic Canadian 10,000 meters and after competing in the fastest 5K ever he has qualified for the finals. "I've accomplished everything I've set out to do in these Olympics," Levins said.
He was able to run against a who's who of long-distance runners, Bernard Lagat is a silver medalist in the 2009 and 2011 World Championships and Gaylen Rupp a two-time Olympic silver medalist and they are just the U.S. runners.
"It was cool to get that experience of mixing it up with the big guns really," Levins said.
He was even able to keep pace for quite a bit, running a chunk of the race in the top-three. And for a first time Olympian just showing that he isn't backing down could be enough.
"As a dad I was just thinking get out there son and show them you belong," said Gus Levins, Cam's dad. "And I think he's done that."
Not only did he show that he belonged he earned his spot in the final, which is just another step on a trip that has been a treat for his closest followers.
"It's crazy because you think everything else is just icing on the cake," said Eric Houle, his track coach at SUU. "But they just keep piling on icing."
The finals are on Saturday and right now there is no secret in saying that Levins is an underdog for gold or even to medal, but that's why they run the race.
"I never counted in actually accomplishing something huge in the 5K finals," Levins said. "But you know, I'm there and I'm learning that anything is possible."
His confidence has grown he has run great races and now made it to the big time. If nothing else this will be a worthwhile trip, but the Levins family isn't expecting it to be the last long trip they take as a family.
"I just can't wait to watch the future even," Gus said. "I don't want to get ahead of myself."
But one of his parents said they will start saving their pennies for 2016, when the Olympics go to Rio.
Previous StoryLONDON - Cedar City isn't in Canada, but during the 10,000 meter final the city and SUU students will be rooting for a Canadian in Cam Levins. Levins is from British Columbia, but his story could very well be described as the American Dream. He went from unknown and not wanted to a national champion and Olympian.
He is the Justin Beiber of world-class long distance runners. Not only by being from Canada, but his rise to stardom came from being found on the internet.
"I put a profile on to berecruited.com," Levins said.
The site gives people a chance to put in their stats and let's recruiters see if there are any diamonds in the rough.
"When his profile came across and he met the standards we are looking for we realized, ‘wow, let's give this guy a call," said SUU track coach Eric Houle.
Levins put in his times and performances for the whole world to see, but still colleges weren't knocking down his door.
"They were offering enough for me to go there," Levins said. "And it just seemed like a great fit."
The fit wasn't actually working at the start of his career as a Thunderbird on the track. But that was changed with the message of "Once a Runner" by John L. Parker, Jr in 2009. The book helped him into an improvement of epic proportions.
"It's the distance between Cedar City and the moon," Houle said.
Levins started to train at paces that are both unheard of and might not be that safe. He started at 15 miles a days and went to 25 then upwards of 30 miles every day.
"I know it's not necessarily the smartest thing to do," Levins said. "But it's what I did, and the results prove that for at least now it's perfect."
In that track season he broke the four-minute mile for the first time and he knew the results were worth the pain.
As news of his training and his improvement reached the masses his rise to become a national champion was met with cheering crowds.
"The crowd is standing up screaming," Houle said. "And the only person ahead is Cam Levins, are you kidding me they are screaming for Cam Levins?"
He owned the second-fastest 10,000-meter time in NCAA history and then was able to give SUU its first national championship of any kind, but he wasn't done there.
Three nights after his first championship he won the shorter 5,000-meter to win a second national championship.
"It was a crazy feeling, it's like what am I doing here almost," Levins said.
His mom had to call Houle just to scream for joy and Houle said that his story arc from not having a four-minute mile to winning a double-championship is a story like "Rudy."
Rudy, Beiber and "The Natural" all fused into one of the fastest distance runners on earth and a Canadian Olympian.
"It's a very awesome position to be put in," Levins said. "and I hope to be a great inspiration for those athletes like my heroes are to me."
The university took a risk on Levins and he knows that and hoped that his titles were able to pay them back.
As part of a thank you from SUU and Utah to Levins he was given a gold medal sendoff to the Olympic Games that included 1,500 people watching as he was able to carry the Utah Games torch. It was a whole day event that changed Levins' life and will redefine the word amazing.
"It was amazing," Levins said. "I use the word amazing a bunch and I should probably shouldn't use it as much because this was on a whole different level."
