Congratulations to Molly Huddle on her American record in yesterday's Brussels Diamond League 5000 meter race. Huddle ran 14:44.76 breaking Shalane Flanagan's old record by .04 seconds. Interesting enough, she managed "only" tenth place with her record race.
Are the American (distance) women that far behind the world? Perhaps not, but there's plenty of ground to make up. We do have a strong and talented group of young runners on the horizon and still have Flanagan, Goucher, Barringer and Huddle in the mix. If the US coaches can develop and maximize our young talent, the ladies will have opportunities for record runs and medals at world class competitions.
The future is bright.
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Women's 5,000: Huddle Gets The American Record
from Letsrun.com
Molly Huddle's decision to stay longer in Europe longer paid off in a big way, as she got the American record by the narrowest of margins - .04.
The subplot in this race was Sentayehu Ejigu and world champ Vivian Cheruiyot competing for the Diamond League title. A win by either one would get the title and the $40,000.
Huddle During American Record Run
Nearly the entire field was still in contact in this race until the final laps. With three laps to go, Brit Stephanie Twell and American Molly Huddle started to fall off as nine people were still in the lead pack. At the bell, at least seven were still in contention but by 300, it was clearly a 3-woman race. By 150, it was a 2-person race between the Diamond League leaders Ejigu and Cheruiyot. The last 100 was for $40,000. Cheruiyot pulled away down the homestretch, showing why she was the world champion last year. Ejigu would fade to third.
The runners kept streaming across the finish line and it was a race against the clock. Molly Huddle crossed in 10th and when the time was posted she had just done enough. 14:44.76, .04 ahead of Shalane Flanagan's old AR. For Huddle, the run justified her decision to stay in Europe and not run the Bix 7 miler, where a $12,000 payday was on the line. It also culminated a great season where she lowered her 5k PR by 33 seconds (she ran 15:17 back in 2007).
The 10th place finish also shows how competitive women's distance running has become with the recent infusion of Kenyan talent. Five Kenyan women finished ahead of Huddle on Friday. Fortunately for Huddle, only 3 of them can run in the World Championships. Prior to the 2007 World Champs, the Kenyan women had 7 medals ever on the track at all the Olympics and World Champs combined. At the last World Champs, they had 6 medals on the track.
Finishing 11th in 14:54.08 was the British hope for the future in 21-year-old Stephanie Twell.
Molly Huddle Post-Race Interview Via Her Agent Flynn Sports: "That was just a good no-pressure situation."
I would also add Lauren Fleshman as one of our stars in the current crop of 5000m runners. BALLS! (reference will be familiar to those who read/listened to one of her post-race interviews)
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