Already the American half-marathon record holder, Weini Kelati can now add another accolade to her impressive record: she is an Olympian. The 27-year-old won the women’s 10,000 meters in 31:41.07 and will represent the United States in Paris.
Parker Valby, 21, a six-time NCAA champion, finished second with a time of 31:41.56. And Karissa Schweizer, 28, who made the 5,000-meter team on Monday, finished third, just a fraction of a second behind her, with a time of 31:41.56. Despite their podium finishes, it is not yet clear whether they will be named to the Olympic team.
That’s because Kelati was the only person competing in the race who met the automatic Olympic qualifying standard of 30:40, a time faster than any of the women running tonight. But there is another way to qualify – through the world athletics rankings. And while the answer won’t be final until July 7, Valby and Schweizer still have a good chance of becoming Olympians in the discipline.
Why? As explained, each athlete is assigned a performance score for each qualifying race based on their finishing time and place. Then the two best scores are averaged to calculate the ranking. Based on the results of today’s race, Valby’s ranking will improve from 1,161 to 1,213 and Schweizer’s from 1,182 to 1,209.
Currently, they would need a score of 1,236 to get high enough in the rankings to secure a spot. But several of the athletes ahead of them on the list will not be competing, including American Alicia Monson, who tore her meniscus in April. That would lower the score needed – and could secure Schweizer and Valby their spots on Team USA.
Katie Izzo, 27, is ranked high enough in the world to qualify based on her placings in the cross country races in November and December. She finished 13th in 32:30.31 and could be named to the team if Valby or Schweizer do not qualify or decide not to run (Schweizer could decide to run only the 5,000 meters in Paris, for example).
The race started relatively slowly; Susanna Sullivan took the lead after about one lap and held it until 6,400 meters. But after several laps of 79 to 80 seconds, Erika Kemp shot ahead, increasing the pace and pulling a group of about six runners – including Kelati, Valby and Schweizer – with her.
With five laps to go, Valby made a decisive move, increasing the pace to her typical 71 seconds per lap. Unlike in the 5,000 meters, she wanted to conserve energy by not taking the lead right at the start, but waiting for a signal from her coach Will Palmer, she told reporters after the race. “I just looked at him every lap and when he told me to go for it, I went for it and it worked,” she said.
Schweizer and Kelati stayed close together and the three quickly left the rest of the field behind. Seconds before the bell rang, Schweizer shot ahead. With about 200 meters to go, Kelati seemed to launch a final attack. Shortly afterwards, Schweizer – and almost Valby too – overtook her again and it seemed as if Kelati would settle for second or third place. But it was not over yet: In the last 80 meters, Kelati sprinted past Schweizer on the inside and took the win.
Kelati, a native of Eritrea, said she gets emotional every time she returns to Eugene — in 2014, after a race here, she decided not to get on a plane home and instead applied for asylum. Tonight, she calmed herself by focusing on the present rather than the past.
Looking ahead, she predicts a strong performance in Paris. “For me, it’s more competitive at the international level than the championship races,” she said. “I’m pretty happy to have made the team now, but I feel like I’m going to have the best race out there.”
Jess McClain, who took a break from professional running but returned with a vengeance, finishing fourth in the Olympic marathon qualifying heats, finished fourth again with a time of 32:04.57. And once again she was more proud than disappointed, saying her strong finish tonight put some of her less fond memories of track cycling right.
“I was so excited to run that time in the marathon and I was so excited to finish fourth today,” she said. “It was just the culmination of a great year and I’m more motivated than ever to get back to marathon pace now.”
Cindy is a freelance health and fitness writer, author and podcaster who has regularly contributed to Runners world since 2013. She is co-author of Breakthrough Running Training for Women: Dream Big, Train Smart and Recover: Train Your Mind to Come Back Stronger After Sports Injuriesa book on the psychology of sports injuries from Bloomsbury Sport. Cindy specializes in injury prevention and recovery, athletes doing ordinary things, and the active community in her beloved Chicago, where winter forges deep bonds between those brave enough to train through it.
