I (Alexis) joined my middle school track team in 7th grade and I’ve been in love with the sport ever since. Naturally, I was glued to my TV every evening last week and my screen time was through the roof as a result of the US Olympic Track Trials. You’d be surprised to learn that I don’t actually know any of the athletes competing personally if you saw how many tears I shed throughout the event.
As I watched the races and consumed hours of surrounding media, one theme really stood out to me; the sheer amount of risk-taking happening at Hayward Field. Everyone out there, from the gold medalists to the first athletes eliminated in the rounds, have made it to the biggest US stage of their sport to pursue their Olympic dreams.
To dare to dream that big in the first place requires a huge risk.
I was equally impressed by the risks being taken by gold medal favorites as I was from the underdogs, collegiates, unsponsored mom’s, and teenagers. For starters, in her first post-collegiate race, NCAA standout Parker Valby took the lead of the women’s 5k final and did all the work for the experienced and accomplished pros behind her. Her tactic resulted in a personal best and the Olympic standard, but it landed her in the dreaded 4th place position, just missing the team. However, after Elle St. Pierre made the 1500m team on Sunday evening she said she would only race the 1500 in Paris, which means Valby will be on the 5k team. Valby didn’t stop after the 5k though! Despite not making the decision to toe the line until the morning of, she raced the 10k on Saturday and placed second to make that team1. Whether she runs the 5k, 10k, or both, she’s going to Paris and the decision to lead much of the 5k may very well be to thank.
Speaking of the 10k, one of the biggest risk-takers of the meet was champion Weini Kelati. Not necessarily for what she did last week, but for what she did at 17. Ten years ago as a high schooler, Kelati was in Eugene competing for her home country of Eritrea when she intentionally missed her flight home to seek asylum in the US. She wasn’t able to see her family for years and her journey hasn’t been an easy one, but she’s now a US citizen and an Olympian for team USA. She’s been able to pave a better future for herself and her family. She talks all about it with
on this podcast episode from February.Marisa Howard was another big story of the trials. The unsponsored 31 year old mom was competing in her 5th trials steeplechase final. After placing 5th at this race in 2019, 2020, and 2021, she surged ahead on the final lap and hung on to place 3rd and secure her spot on the Olympic team. After the race, she shared that her husband is a teacher and they’ve been living on just one salary while she continues to pursue her athletic goals. Talk about perseverance and self-belief.
I could go on about these trials for days, but I’ll limit myself to just two(ish) more highlights; Allie Ostrander and the entire 1500m field. Three years ago, Allie opened up about entering treatment for an eating disorder as a professional runner. Now that she has been in recovery for a while, she’s been open about her experience and she’s been vocal about continuing to pursue her Olympic dreams. Over the past year, she’s vlogged about her return to the track and has been vocal about her goal of making an Olympic team. Although Allie finished 7th at the trials and won’t be going to Paris, she’s made it clear that going after her goal was a risk worth taking. She fell short, but along the way she became stronger, more resilient, and ran faster than she ever has before. I recommend checking out her trials recap on her Youtube channel.
Finally, if you follow track at all, you know that the women’s 1500m race was the race of the meet. The field was the deepest in American history, with at least 8 runners who had a legitimate shot to make the team. Every athlete that lined up for the final knew they were going to have to do something they had never done before in order to be in contention. Elle St. Pierre took the field out fast and led 8 of the 12 finalists to personal bests in a race that completely rewrote the US top 15 all-time list.
There were so many athletes in that field with amazing stories. Winner Nikki Hiltz not only made history by setting a new trials record and becoming number 2 US all-time, but they also became the first trans non-binary US track and field olympian. Runner-up Emily Mackay (who I claim as a hometown hero), had a personal best of 4:17 at the time of the last trials in 2021, but dared to believe she had what it took to get to this level2. And 3rd place finisher St. Pierre led the majority of the race to make the team less than a year and a half after having her first child (and days after winning the 5k). I appreciated this clip of St. Pierre speaking about all that women have to balance and sharing that she got her first period after giving birth the week of the trials. Beyond the top-3, Sinclaire Johnson and Heather McClean both overcame injuries to get to the start line. And after battling REDS and overtraining, Elise Cranny made two coaching changes this year to find the situation that would be best for her physical and mental health. All of those athletes ran huge personal bests and I would be willing to bet that all of the risks they took along the way and during the race were more than worth it.
As I watched the races and listened to the athletes tell their stories, I was reminded how important it is to get out of our comfort zones, dare to dream big, and take risks even if it shares us. If you’ve been here awhile, you know a goal of mine is to break 3 hours in the marathon. I took my first stab at it in December and then again in January. In December, things didn’t end well, but in January although I failed to break 3 hours, I ran myself to a 6 minute personal best. More importantly though, I felt like I had a mental breakthrough and had more fun and less anxiety than ever before. I know going after this goal is a risk and there is no guarantee I’ll achieve it, but the point isn’t the outcome, that point is everything I’m learning about myself while I try.
Sometimes safety and comfort is important, but we never know what might happen when we decide to be bold and take a risk.
Writing Prompt
Worth the risk…
We encourage you to grab paper and pen or open your notes app, set a timer for 10-15 minutes, and just write. Whatever comes out, write it down. No judgement. When time is up you choose! Keep going and polish it up or stop right there and leave it as is. If you go with the former and you’d like to share your response, go ahead and submit it through our share your story form. It may be published on it’s own or as a part of a writing prompt complication. If you have ideas for future writing prompts, submit them here.
Let’s chat trials!
It’s been a week, but we can’t stop thinking about everything Olympic Trials. Let us know what you’re highlights were and who your looking forward to seeing the most in Paris!
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Olympic qualification is complicated. Only one US woman in the field, Weini Kelait, has the olympic standard so we won’t no for sure if Valby and third place finished Karissa Schweizer are on the team for a few more days. Chris Chavez of
explains a bit about that here and in this podcast episode.Alison Wade wrote about Mackay’s progression in this edition of
a little over a year ago. Her progression was already pretty amazing at that point, but if you told her in May of 2023 that she’d now be a World medalist, US #3 all-time in the 1500, and an Olympian, I’m not sure she would have believed you.