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2004 OLYMPIC TEAM TRIALS—TRACK
AND FIELD by Sam Grotewold
July 9, Sacramento, California—Few events at the 2004 Olympic Team Trials—Track and Field generated as much pre-meet speculation as the Men's 10,000 meters, the only final on the meet's opening night. With five men under the Olympic "A" standard, the three slots on the Olympic team were assured to be filled from that group. But because two of the athletes—California's Meb Keflezighi and Oregon's Dan Browne—already had spots on the Olympic marathon team, their status in the Olympic 10,000 (should they qualify) was in question, potentially opening the door for one (or two) of the other men in the group of five. Much of the pre-race attention, though, was deservedly placed upon another two athletes, Indiana's Bob Kennedy and University of Colorado sophomore Dathan Ritzenhein. The two had finished next to each other in the 10,000-meter race at the Cardinal Invitational at Stanford University earlier this spring, and both were hungry to make the team. For the 33 year-old Kennedy, arguably America's greatest distance runner ever, it would be his final shot at making his third Olympic team after four frustrating years of injury and illness. For the young Ritzenhein, it would be the fulfillment of expectations that have followed him since he was in high school in Michigan. When the starter's pistol issued its report on Friday night, Keflezighi, Browne, Kennedy, Ritzenhein, and 2000 Olympian Abdi Abdirahman of Arizona set out to fight for their place on the team. The quartet of Keflezighi, Browne, Kennedy, and Abdirahman immediately distanced themselves from other 22 athletes in the field. Ritzenhein, who was recently diagnosed with a stress fracture in his foot but decided to run anyway, immediately fell to the back and was never a factor, eventually finishing last among the 22 finishers. Up front, though, the four battled through more than two miles before Kennedy suddenly and without warning pulled up nine laps into the race, grimacing and pointing at his ankle in pain. "I was very fit, but I hurt my Achilles tendon about two weeks ago," Kennedy explained. "I hoped it would hold up on me for 20 laps and I could gut the last five out, but it just wasn't in the cards. My body just isn't as young as it used to be." As if a testament to his mark on American distance running, the heartbroken Kennedy still drew the biggest cheers from fans trackside as he tried to explain to reporters what went wrong. Back on the track, Keflezighi and his good friend Abdirahman, known universally as "Abdi," had put a gap on Browne. The two hammered around the track together before Keflezighi pulled away in the final mile, waving to the crowd as he tooled down the backstretch for the final time, and dropping to the ground for a pushup after crossing the line in 27:36.49, an Olympic Trials record. Abdirahman was second (27:55.00), with Browne rounding out the top three (28:07.47). However, because Keflezighi and Browne may still opt to focus strictly on the marathon in the Olympics—a likely scenario—Ritzenhein be included on the Olympic team, provided his injuries could heal and despite his troubles on Friday night, because he is the only other athlete in the field to have run under the Olympic "A" standard and finish the race. Kennedy, who also held the "A" standard but did not finish the trials race, is eliminated from consideration. Ritzenhein's fate, in Olympic terms, at least, rests entirely on the decision of Keflezighi and Browne. But the two were not ready to make that call after the race on Friday. "It's a perfect time to double in Athens in the 10K and the marathon," Keflezighi explained after the race, "but my goal is to win a medal, and right now I think that's in the marathon. But I haven't made any decisions yet, and I will sit with my coach in the next day or two and make the decision." Whether or not he runs the 10,000 in Athens as he did in Sydney is neither here nor there, at this point. Tonight, Keflezighi proved once again that his name belongs among the best in American history. Earlier in the day, the crowd saw the opening rounds of the men's and women's 800 meters. On the women's side, a group of 27 athletes was whittled down to the semifinal field of 16. All of the favorites advanced safely, with 2000 Olympian Hazel Clark running the fastest time in the preliminaries (2:02.65), just ahead of her 37-year-old sister-in-law, Jearl Miles-Clark, the three-time Olympian and American record-holder at the distance. Nicole Teter, who captured the American indoor record two years ago, won her preliminary heat with the third-fastest time of the night. World Indoor Championships fourth-place finisher Jen Toomey also advanced. The women's 800 semifinal will take place on Saturday afternoon, with the finals scheduled for Monday evening. In the men's 800, Khadevis Robinson—who missed the 2000 Olympic team by .25 seconds—led all runners with a 1:46.42 clocking. Robinson's heat was by far the quickest, taking the top seven spots in the semifinal qualifiers. Joining Robinson in the second round are 2004 NCAA runner-up Jesse O'Connell, 2003 World Indoor Championships gold medalist David Krummenacker, 2003 NCAA champ Sam Burley, former U.S. and NCAA champ Derrick Peterson, and reigning NCAA titlist Jonathan Johnson. The semifinal field of 16 will be narrowed to eight finalists on Saturday, with the final slated for Monday evening's events." The women's 5,000-meter field was just large enough to require a semi-final round, but just small enough so that only three women would be eliminated from the final. Oregon's Marla Runyan, eighth place in the Sydney Olympics 1,500 meters, waited patiently through two miles before pulling away for the win in the final two kilometers of her heat in 15:36.75, just ahead of Shalane Flanagan, the University of North Carolina star who announced her decision to turn pro last week. Runyan, who ran 14:59.20 several weeks ago, would appear to have quite a bit left in the tank for Monday's final. In the second heat, Pennsylvania's Jen Rhines—who has already qualified for the Olympic team in the marathon—and two-time Olympian Amy Rudolph quickly separated themselves from the pack and worked together the entire way, with Rhines taking a slight advantage at the finish line in 15:50.08. Despite her good showing on Monday, Rhines left no doubt about her focus for this year. "Well, I'm not going to make the team [in the 5000], anyway," she said with a laugh, "so this was just an opportunity to get out and get the legs moving, as part of my training for the Olympic Marathon." Rudolph, who was less than one second behind Runyan's 14:59 several weeks back, should have the reserves to make a serious attempt at her third Olympic team in the final on Monday.
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