World In Shock As Brazier Falters In 800m Final
Day four of the U.S. Olympic Trials commenced, and we were off with a bang.
The opening semifinal of the men’s steeplechase was a fast one. The top ten runners ran under 8 minutes and 30 seconds, meaning a good number of them were going to have to run a season’s best or personal best just to qualify for the final.
Isaac Updike and Hillary Bor led the charge with an outstanding 8:21 to automatically qualify.
Curtis Thompson won the men’s javelin with a toss of 271’7” (82.78m). Unfortunately, none of the top three were able to hit the Olympic standard of 85m. This means that they will need to wait until June 30 to learn if they made the cut.
In a somewhat surprising victory, Chris Nilsen upset American record holder and Olympic bronze medalist Sam Kendricks to take the title spot in the men’s pole vault. Nilsen didn’t miss a single attempt until after he had clinched the competition with a winning jump of 19’4-1/4” (5.90m).
Joining Nilsen and Kendricks in Tokyo is 21-year-old Baylor Bear, KC Lightfoot.
Will Claye stole the men’s triple jump on his final attempt, with a hop, skip, and jump out to season’s best of 56’5-3/4” (17.21). Both Donald Scott and Chris Benard filled the remaining podium positions. Surely an odd sight without the most decorated triple jumper in history — Christian Taylor.
Taylor suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon a few weeks ago, an injury that Claye himself is coming back from.
The women’s 1500m final was a whirlwind of emotions. Elle Purrier St. Pierre stormed down the backstretch to a new personal best and meeting record (3:58.03), followed closely by her teammates Cory McGee and Heather MacLean. Both running lifetime bests.
There were two glaring omissions, though. American record holder Shelby Houlihan, who was barred from the Trials due to a doping ban, and bronze medalist Jenny Simpson. Simpson faded behind the blistering pace in the last 800m and just couldn’t keep up on the day.
If that wasn’t enough sad news, World Champion and American record holder Donavan Brazier did not make the team.
In what is certainly the biggest upset of the week thus far, Brazier didn’t seem to have anything left in the tank the last 200m. Falling increasingly behind the likes of NCAA champion Isaiah Jewett set a fast pace early and didn’t let go until the final few meters when Clayton Murphy took charge in a new world-leading time of 1:43.17 seconds.
Brazier typically runs anyone and everyone down in the last 100m to 200m but had no response after getting a bit caught on the inside rail. His running labored, our hearts sank as we watched another Olympic team attempt evaporate. As we all know, he will be back, and likely stronger than ever.
Finally, the women’s 5,000m gave us a needed boost of happy juice, as Colorado product Elise Cranny, pulled teammate Karissa Schweizer and Georgetown standout Rachel Schneider onto their first U.S. Olympic team.
Much more to come before we conclude these trials, but the next few days are off for some much-needed rest. We resume coverage Thursday afternoon with women’s hammer throw and shot put.
