INDIANAPOLIS - Shalane Flanagan has been named USA Track & Field’s Athlete of the Week after winning the women’s U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Marathon Saturday in a new Olympic Trials record time in Houston.
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Flanagan (Portland, Ore.) crossed the finish line in a personal best time of 2:25:38 to set an Olympic Trials Marathon record by two minutes and forty-seven seconds. This was Flanagan’s debut in the Olympic Trials Marathon and only her second time to take on the marathon distance.
“It was a huge day, I think one that all of us will remember,” Flanagan said in the post-race press conference. “The last mile was a cross between savoring the moment and just being really grateful that I was almost done. I knew Desi [Davila] was charging hard and I told myself I had to have one last gear if she came up on me. I tried to view it as a track race for the last mile. I didn’t really enjoy that last mile. It felt really long. I’m just grateful to be on the same team with these women.”
Flanagan will be joined by Kara Goucher (Portland, Ore.) and Desiree Davila (Hilltop HS, Chula Vista, CA 2001; Arizona State 2005)(Rochester Hills, Mich.) to represent Team USA in London in the women’s marathon. The men’s team will include Meb Keflezighi (San Diego HS; UCLA) (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.), Ryan Hall (Big Bear High School; Stanford) (Flagstaff, Ariz.) and Abdi Abdirahman (Tucson, Ariz.). For more on the U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Marathon, read the event recap here.
Now it its eleventh year, USATF’s Athlete of the Week program is designed to recognize outstanding performers at all levels of the sport. USATF names a new honoree each week and features the athlete on www.usatf.org. Selections are based on top performances and results from the previous week.
2012 Winners: January 5, Landon Peacock; January 11, Kirubel Erassa; January 18, Shalane Flanagan
About USA Track & Field
USA Track & Field (USATF) is the National Governing Body for track & field, long-distance running and race walking in the United States. USATF encompasses the world's oldest organized sports, the World's #1 Track & Field Team, the most-watched events at the Olympics, the #1 high school and junior high school participatory sport, and more than 30 million adult runners in the United States: www.usatf.org.
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