Flanagan Scores Unbelievable 10,000 Meter Bronze

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It was anything but easy but Shalane Flanagan (Pittsboro, N.C.) overcame incredible odds to take bronze in the greatest women's 10,000m in history Friday evening at the "Bird's Nest" National Stadium.

Astounding bronze for Flanagan

The American record holder in the 10,000 and 5,000m, Flanagan had endured six hours of intense gastrointestinal distress, in the form of vomiting and diarrhea, Tuesday evening at Team USA training camp in Dalian, China. She continued to have gastrointestinal problems while working out for the next two days, and at one point her participation in Friday's 10,000 was up in the air. But Flanagan gave it a go, and was part of history as a result.

Lornah Kiplagat of the Netherlands led practically from the gun, towing a lead group of 18 runners - including Americans Flanagan and Kara Goucher (Portland, Ore.) through 71-second and then 73-second laps. Kiplagat covered the first km in 3:00, the second in 3:00, the third in 3:04 and the fourth in 3:03. A lead pack of 15 passed 5 km in 15:09.98 with little change in the race. Flanagan sat in eighth and Goucher in 11th as Amy Yoder-Begley (Portland, Ore.) was approximately 175m back from the leaders.

Just past 6 km, covered in 19:13.5, Kiplagat, Elvan Abeylegesse of Turkey and Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia began trading the lead. Linet Chepkwemoi Masai of Kenya moved up to third as Kiplagat began to drop back, with Lucy Kabuu Wangui of Kenya fourth to round out the lead pack. Flanagan moved up to fifth as 7 km was covered by the leaders in 21:14.46 and 8 km in 24:09.40. The pace was dropping rapidly, leaving Abeylegesse and Dibaba to duke it out for gold as they hit 9 km in 27:06:02.

With three laps to go, Flanagan moved up to fourth and was gaining on Masai, who approximately half a second ahead of the American record holder. Flanagan passed with 800m go to and looked all but assured of bronze.

Ahead of Flanagan, history was being made. In a furious final 400, Dibaba was first to the finish in 29:54.66, setting an Olympic record and becoming only the second woman to dip under 30:00 for the 10,000. Abeylegesse was second in an area record 29:56.32, with Flanagan next across in an American-record time of 30:22.22, breaking her own mark of 30:35.34 set in her 10 km debut earlier this year and becoming the second American woman ever to medal in this event at the Games. Lynn Jennings also won bronze in 1992. Masai was fourth in a world junior and Kenyan national record of 30:26.50. Goucher ended 10th in a personal-best 30:55.16, with Yoder-Begley 26th in 32:38.28.

Coming on the heels of Goucher's bronze medal at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka, Flanagan's performance marked the second consecutive major international championship in which an American has won a medal in the women's 10,000.

Moving to semis

All three U.S. men's 1,500m runners advanced to compete in Sunday's semifinal round. With the top five finishers in each heat and the next four fastest men advancing, world champion Bernard Lagat (Tucson, Ariz.) made it by placing fourth in the second heat in 3:41.98, and Lopez Lomong (Colorado Springs, Colo.) did so by placing fifth in heat 3 in 3:36.70. NCAA champ Leonel Manzano (Austin, Texas) was in the quickest heat of the night, the first, and was sixth in 3:36.67, advancing as the second-fastest non-automatic qualifier.

All three men's 100m runners moved to Saturday's semifinal round by taking second in their respective heats. Tyson Gay (Lexington, Ky.) was second in heat 2 in 10.09, Darvis Patton (Ft. Worth, Texas) was second in heat 4 in 10.04, and Walter Dix (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) was second in heat 5 in 10.08.

The men's 400m hurdles quarterfinal round was a qualification sweep, with2005 world champ Bershawn Jackson (Raleigh, N.C.) winning heat 1 in 49.20, 2000 Olympic gold medalist Angelo Taylor (Decatur, Ga.) winning heat 2 in 48.67, and world champion Kerron Clement (Los Angeles, Calif.) taking the third heat in 49.42

The women's triple jumpers found less success in their qualifying round. Struggling with an injured hamstring, Erica McLain (Plano, Texas) was 26th in qualifying with a mark of 13.52m/44-4.25, and Shani Marks (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) was 28th with 13.44m/44-1.25.

For more information on Team USA at the Olympic Games, including athlete quotes, event schedule, TV schedule and complete results, visit www.usatf.org.

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