Taking the lead in the fifth lap and never letting up, Emily Sisson won the 10,000 in 31:03.82 on June 26 at the U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials. Despite a start temperature of 85 degrees, Sisson broke the 17-year-old Trials record of 31:09.65, set by Deena Kastor in 2004.
Karissa Schweizer moved from third to second in the final lap, finishing in 31:16.52, and Alicia Monson claimed the third team spot in 31:18.55.
Results and highlights from the U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials
Forty-one women started the race. Because of the unusually large number of qualifiers, USA Track & Field Gabby Thomas Wins 200 Meters, although the timing of the second section was never clarified. On Wednesday, USATF announced that there would be only one section, and that the race would start at 10:00 a.m. instead of the evening because of the extreme heat forecast for Eugene.
This was Sisson’s third time competing in the Olympic Trials on the track but her first time making the Olympic team. Her coach, Ray Treacy, told Sisson that “your strength is your strength,” and he devised a race plan that would have her go through the first 5,000 meters in 15:50 and then continue to squeeze the pace down the final five laps.
Sisson, 29, executed that to perfection, hitting 15:49 at halfway. She then ran 74-second laps until 5 to go, when she went 72, 72, 71, 71, and 69 for her last lap.
Emily Sisson Wins Women’s 10,000 Meters at U.S. Olympic Trials McLaughlin-Levrone Sets WR in 400-Meter Hurdles in February 2020, but she dropped out, and struggled in the aftermath to find her motivation again.
“I had a rough patch after Atlanta,” she said. “I went all in on that race. That broke my heart. I was very confused after. And then entering the pandemic, there was all this uncertainty. Usually I’m good at moving on from bad races.”
That rough patch made her win today all the sweeter.
Schweizer, 25, was three seconds behind Monson at the bell lap but had the strongest kick of anyone in the field, finishing with a 68-second last lap.
What Makes Bryce Hoppel So Good 5,000-meter squad on Monday, and she said she was exhausted in the day’s heat. “I did not think it was going to be as painful as it was,” she said. She has had three races—two heats of the 5,000, and today’s 10,000—in nine days.
It is unclear whether Schweizer plans to run both events in the the Olympics. If she gives up her 5,000-meter spot, Abbey Cooper will be named to that team. If she gives up her 10,000-meter spot, Elise Cranny, fourth in 31:35.22, and Rachel Schneider, fifth in 31:42.92, are eligible to run the 10K in Tokyo. Cranny and Schneider, however, are also already on the 5,000-meter team. So if Schweizer, Cranny, and Schneider all decide to skip the 10K, then Sara Hall, sixth in 31:54.50, will run the 10K in Tokyo.
Today was Hall’s seventh Olympic Trials. She’s competed five times on the track and twice in the marathon. At 38, she had her highest finish yet. “I’m thankful that I was able to do that today,” she said.
Monson, 23, who runs for On Athletics Club in Boulder, Colorado, also made her first Olympic team. She was wobbly in the final few laps, and after the medal ceremony, she collapsed and started vomiting and had to go to the hospital as a precaution, according to her coach, Dathan Ritzenhein.
“She’s the toughest person, the quietest, toughest person you could imagine,” he said. “I think she’s one of the next greats. She showed it today.”
Incidentally, it was Ritzenhein’s second trip in two days to the hospital with an athlete. Sage Hurta, an 800-meter runner, fell in her semifinal heat and fractured her wrist.
USATF will submit the team roster to the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee on July 1; athletes might announce their intentions concerning doubling before then.
The defending champion and U.S. record-holder, Molly Huddle, A Part of Hearst Digital Media, citing injury. The other 2016 Olympians in the event, Emily Infeld and Marielle Hall, finished eighth and 36th, respectively.
Schweizer also qualified for the is a writer and editor living in Eugene, Oregon, and her stories about the sport, its trends, and fascinating individuals have appeared in Runner’s World Download Your Training Plan, Run Your Butt Off! and Walk Your Butt Off!
