Women's 5,000m Final

Shalane Flanagan and Kara Goucher have become two of the stars of these trials already. The two had a much-anticipated dual in the 10,000m already and much has been made of their decision to double back in the 5,000m. Each woman advanced to the final relatively easily, but there they face stiffer competition than they did in the 10,000m. Jenn Rhines and Lauren Fleshman join Flanagan and Goucher as the only members of the field with the A-standard. Flanagan came in with the best time (Her 14:44 American Record from last summer). Rhines, Goucher and Fleshman qualified with times of 14:54, 14:55 and 14:58 respectively, all run this outdoor season.

Given the fact that Flanagan and Goucher have already raced the 10,000m, it's hard to consider the two as odds-on favorites to go 1-2. Fleshman has shown herself to be in good form this season. Her 14:58 personal-best came in a race she won in New York in late May against a talented international field. She was the 5,000m National Champion in 2006, topping Goucher and Rhines in the process. At the 2007 USA meet, she had one of the more bizarre races of the competition. She ran with the lead pack for much of the race before slowing to a walk, apparently considering dropping out. She thought the better of it, but had faded out of contention and finished fourth, missing a bid to the 2007 World Championships in Osaka.

Flanagan and Rhines finished 1-2 in that race. Rhines career has followed a strange path. In 2000, she made the Olympic team in the 10,000m. In 2004, she qualified for Athens in the marathon. Until that time, her career had followed the normal arc of a runner who moves up in distance as their natural foot-speed and talent at shorter distances fades away with age. But Rhines chose to return to the track. She has set multiple personal bests in the 5,000m since then. At Osaka in 2007, she actually beat Flanagan and finished seventh, her best performance at an international championship. She now finds herself competing for a spot on her third Olympic team in a third event.

The A-standard requirement could come into play as it did in the 10,000m when Amy Yoder-Begley came into the meet without the time-standard, but managed to secure it by just over a second and make the team. Runners such as Molly Huddle, Sara Slattery and recent Stanford grad Arianna Lambie all have a chance to do well, coming in with the fifth, sixth and seventh fastest times respectively, but none of them have the A-standard of 15:09. It's hard to guess at tactics, but there are several reasons for a fast pace. Flanagan tends to prefer hard efforts, as perhaps best-demonstrated by her solo 14:51 effort last year at USAs. Rhines and Fleshman might try and take advantage of their relatively fresh legs and force the pace hoping Flanagan and Goucher are missing a gear or two after the 10,000m. If a fast pace does come, it could pull some of the runners who lack the standard in under 15:09. Look for Rhines to put up the stiffest challenge to Goucher and Flanagan, with Fleshman likely in the top-5 as well. Lambie could turn in a Yoder-Begley-like performance and be the surprise of the field. She completed her eligibility at Stanford this past winter, and avoided a busy collegiate racing schedule, focusing instead on the trials.

Additional Notes...Like Goucher and Flanagan, Sara Slattery, Molly Huddle, and Amy Hastings are attempting to double back after competing in the 10,000m. In that race Slattery finished seventh, Hastings fourteenth and Huddle, a co-favorite to make the team, finished a disappointing ninth.. Each hopes to rebound Friday night...Nicole Blood, a student at the University of Oregon surely would have recieved considerable support from her home crowed, but dropped out of her 5,000m semifinal heat and scratched from the 1,500m heats...The Trials record could be on the radar for some of the Women in the field. The record remains from 2000 when Regina Jacobs set the previous American record of 14:45. It has since been revealed that Jacobs used performance-enhancing drugs during her career. Before Flanagan broke the record, several of the women had talked of their collective goal to break Jacobs' record and get her name off the books. The same desire probably exists regarding the meet record, but they're not likely to jeopardize their chance at qualifying for Beijing.

Men's 10,000m Final

Controversy has erupted over tonight's 10,000m final. Traditionally the size of the field is capped at 24 athletes, though it is common to go an athlete or two over. Perhaps unprecedented however was USATF's decision to add the 32nd ranked qualifier, Adam Goucher, to the field without first adding the athletes ranked 25-31. In it's defense, USATF pointed to a rule which gave the organizing body oversight when it came to meet entries, allowing it to add runners to the field in order to make the race more competitive. Goucher's story complicates the process however. Goucher was an Olympian in 2000 and has impressive credentials over 5,000m, owning a personal best of 13:10. This year, however, he was coming off ankle surgery and had not run an A-standard qualifying time within the competition window (beginning January 1, 2007). He competed in the 5,000m final and several competitors expected him to push the pace to try and obtain the time-standard and make the team. Goucher waited until late in the race to make his move, but with four laps to go, he would have had to have a 4:00 final 1600m. He dropped out out of the race with two laps to go. In interviews after the race Goucher was talking about refocusing for the 10,000m and his possibilities in that race. Yet, unless Goucher knew something the public didn't at that time, it was by no means a given that he would be added to the field. USATF's decision to include Goucher (a Nike athlete) caused considerable uproar, and added to Nike conspiracy theories which had been brewing after Eugene (the birthplace of Nike) was awarded the trials for 2012 without an open bidding process and former USATF CEO Craig Masback recently left USATF to take a position with Nike. Start lists published this morning show only 25 athletes, including Goucher.

Regardless of whether Goucher or any other athletes are on the starting line, the 10,000m final is sure to be an exciting race. Abdi Abdiraman, the defending national champion and two-time Olympian at the distance is back after an unsuccessful bid to make the team in the marathon this past november. Abdi has shown himself to be in excellent form. At the Prefontaine Classic in early June, he ran a personal-best of 27:16, just missing the American record. At the World Championships last year, he was seventh and figures to be a sure-bet to make the team and challenge for a spot in the top-10 at the Olympics. Six other athletes in the field have the A-standard. First among them is Galen Rupp, a young runner for the University of Oregon who took a semester off from school to focus on making the team. He is sure to be the crowd-favorite, and has a strong chance to make the team. Meb Keflezighi, the 2004 trials champion and silver medalist in the marathon is also entered, but has struggled mightily since some fast early performances in 2007. Though he may have the most impressive resume of the field, he is not likely to challenge for a spot.

If the pace is not fast enough, the three qualifiers will come from the group of Abdiraman, Rupp, Keflezighi, Jorge Torres, Ed Moran, James Carney, and Scott Bauhs. Torres was the 2006 National Champion at the distance. Bauhs has a very strong chance to make the team. The young runner from Chico State has improved considerably over the past year. He qualified for the World Cross Country team just a few months ago and appears to have maintained his excellent form from the long collegiate season. Runners such as Josh Rohatinsky, Adam Goucher (both training partners of Rupp), Fasil Bizuneh and Dan Browne could look to insure a fast pace as they all, despite impressive credentials, lack the A-standard of 27:50.

Additional Notes...One athlete in the field has already secured a spot on the Olympic team. Dathan Ritzenhein took second in the Marathon team trials last november. He finished 9th over 10,000m at last year's World Championships, but despite speculation he is not likely to pass up his spot in the marathon if he does well in the 10,000m...Rupp and Rohatinsky, who train under Alberto Salazar with Goucher have already caused some controversy at the trials. Both competed in the 5,000m semi-final but treated it as a workout. Although they qualified for the final, those chose not to contest it, focusing on the 10,000m...Keflezighi, Abdiraman, Rohatinsky and Browne are among a group who turned to the 10,000m after failing to make the team in the marathon. Those spots went to Ryan Hall, Ritzenhein and Brian Sell.

Contributed by Ben Raphelson