Flanagan qualified in 5000 meters

[SycamoreSage]

Shalane Flanagan, daughter of ISU Hall of Famer Cheryl Pedlow and the Olympic bronze medal winner in the 10,000 meters, qualified for the Finals in the 5000 meters Monday.

[ISUCC]

SS, I think it's gonna be tough for Shalane to place in the 5k tomorrow. Stacked field for sure.

[SycamoreSage]

I agree, ISUCC: Very Tough.

I am sure that the 10,000 meters took its toll, too. On the other hand, she was not expected to medal in the 10k, so maybe she can perform another miracle. Shalane has her own blog http://blogs.eagletribune.com:80/olympics/2008/08/21/9/ and it's only appropriate that she compare her attitude toward competition with Larry Bird. Her mother Cheryl has been known to use Bird as an example of a Hoosier who did not quit. Shalane has picked up some sound bytes from her mother. I suspect Shalane may associate Bird with the Celtics as much or more than she does with Indiana State since she went to high school in Marblehead, Mass.

Here is an interesting interview wih Cheryl about her verious careers, including her "recruitment" by Indiana State and some of the challenges she faced as a true trailblazer. It has been around while but it is not out of date:

http://www.fast-women.com/athletes/interviews/ctreworgy.html

[SycamoreSage]

The time was slow but Shalane finished in 10th place. in the 5,000-meter Finals.

[SycamoreSage]

It's still early but this is one of the best stories about the Women's 5000-meters at this hour:

http://www.salemnews.com/pusports/local_story_236000011.html

[ISUCC]

SS, if you find a link for the video of this race, please post it, I have searched nbcolympics.com and can find nothing! They were supposed to play it between 7-11pm last night, but nooooo, they go back to men's diving and never showed the women's 5k.

Anyway, slow race, very humid and hot. Last 1k was brutally fast if you look at splits on iaaf.org


The time was slow but Shalane finished in 10th place. in the 5,000-meter Finals.

[SycamoreSage]

I have not done an exhaustive search of the NBCOlympic website but NBC did get around to showing most of the 5K at about 2 a.m., after I posted my earlier message. I was still awake and fortunate enough to catch it. The last two laps -- and particularly the last one, as you pointed out -- were blazing fast while most of the race was very slow. A pack of 10 broke away from the remaining runners with 5 or 6 laps to go. Shalane and Kara Goucher stayed with the lead pack, as I recall, until the last lap and one-half when it began to break up and stretch out. Shalane was at the back of that pack in the last laps.

Before the race began the announcer said that Shalane was not feeling well (and distinguished her current problem from the food poisoning issue she had last week) but did not go into detail and I do not remember that the topic was revisited during the race.

Eventually I believe that NBCOlympics will have a video of Friday night's highlights.