LIVE

|

RACES

|

RESULTS

|

ENTRIES

|

SCHEDULE

|

INTERVIEWS

|

MEDALS

|

PICKS

|

CONTEST

With the recent news of USATF Outdoor Championships 800m runner-up Ajee Wilson being out with injury, fourth-place finisher Molly Ludlow was offered the spot to represent the United States at the World Championships. After accepting the spot on Monday, Ludlow shared her immediate reaction to competing on her first World team and her goals heading into Beijing. 

What was your reaction when you were offered the spot on the World Championship team?

When I heard, I was in Columbus with my parents and I was told in Europe by my agent to not shut down my season because there was some speculation if everyone was healthy and ready to go. I didn’t know if I wanted my season to be over, and I didn’t know if I was going back overseas later even though I had 16 races already this season. I was ready for a break, but I kept going just in case and heard on Monday that Ajee was unfortunately not healthy so it was really overwhelming.

I came home to get my graces together like getting my shoes because my spikes were wearing down and I was anxious to get home, but I immediately left the next day and just started driving to Indianapolis to get my stuff together. Physically I’m totally prepared, mentally I have wrapped my head around it now and am good to go. 

 

You’ve been putting in a lot of good racing since the USA Outdoor Championships. You’ve broken two minutes six times already this season.

I think I was racing with a little bit of anger built up after finishing fourth at USAs, and I felt like it was my year to make a world team so I went Europe with a point to prove to myself and everyone else that I deserved to be there. I went to Paris and had a huge PR (1:58), which got my confidence up a little bit and carried me through the entire month. But it was a long month, I’ve never been gone for an entire month and it was a long time [laughs]. 

 

What was even more impressive was how consistently you’ve been running two minutes and under. 

Yeah that’s what I’m most proud of is being consistent, that’s why I’m excited to see if I can stay this consistent through the rounds at Worlds. That’s something that I’ve taken pride in.

 

Going back to the USA Outdoor Championships, you placed fourth, but there’s a group of women’s 800m runners who could have all finished in the top three on any given day. What’s it like competing against such a deep field?

I gives me a lot of comfort knowing that when I race Alysia [Montano], Brenda [Martinez], and Chanelle [Price], we are all in the top five in the world. So I’m going to Worlds knowing that I’m racing all of the girls I’ve already seen this season. I don’t think there should be anybody coming out of the wood work, but you never know. I feel very prepared going in and not a lot of people can say that when they’ve missed the U.S. team, but I do feel like I’ve prepared myself for the world stage.

 

The possibilities are kind of endless with the three of you (Alysia Montano and Brenda Martinez), what’s it like for you to be part of the three who could make an impact in Beijing?

I always looked up a lot to Alysia, she’s always been the fastest person in the U.S. since I could remember when I started running in 2010. She’s such a good leader and everything that she does is exactly how I like to do things, and she’s made how many finals? And was fourth at the Olympics! I’m so excited to go and see how it’s done and I’m excited to see you know, Brenda who is a bronze medalist. She clearly knows how it’s done too so I’m feeling blessed to have those two with me to guide me through my first World Championship. I feel like this could put me in a great place for the Olympic year and prepare me for this stage that I’ve never been on. 

 

This year has been a game changer for you. What do you think has made the difference?

I had a whole fall and winter of uninterrupted training. I can’t say that for other years. I’ve had injuries after the season that I had to take care of that put me back in the fall. I have terrible knees. I’ve had six knee surgeries and something always goes wrong.

Something has always gone wrong in the off-season, whether it’s a flare up or in 2013 I had two meniscus tears and had to take the season off. All of my knee surgeries that I’ve had are from my soccer background and not a lot of people know about it because I’m not injured very often. But I’m dealing with bone on bone in one of my knees so that’s something that I always have to be really careful about. But this year to have no knee problems, knock on wood, has a lot to do with why this has been such a breakout season for me. 

 

What are your goals heading into the World Championships?

Making a final is always a goal, I don’t know what to expect in the first two rounds, but all I know is that making the final is the No. 1 goal. I think I’m going to be really ready for rounds, I’ve always been really good through rounds. It’s where my consistency comes in.