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Shalane Flanagan runs on Meseret Defar's shoulder in the 3,000m at the 2007 Reebok Boston Indoor Games.
Shalane Flanagan dropped off the face of the competitive planet after the 2005 IAAF World Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Helsinki, but her return to the track on January 27 at the Boston Indoor Games was dramatic. Flanagan firmly established not only that she was back, but that the surgery which removed a bone from her left foot had not only removed the cause of a recurring injury, but was actually allowing her to run harder than before.
If Flanagan's nearly-under-the-radar win at the Manchester (CT) Road Race on Thanksgiving day 2006 was a warning flare, her track comeback race, an 8:33.25 American 3,000m record, was the sun at high noon. In a race originally set up as a world record attempt for Ethiopia's Meseret Defar (who owns the outdoor 5,000m record at 14:24.53), Flanagan stole the show by bridging from the main pack up to Defar halfway through the race, then actually challenging for the lead on the backstretch with a bit more than a quarter mile to go.
The authority with which Flanagan demolished the American record was spectacular enough, but it's almost as breathtaking to hear her looking at the time difference between her new mark, which makes her the sixth- fastest woman ever at the distance, and the world record (8:27.86 by Liliya Shobukhova of Russia).
Flanagan spoke to reporters after signing her way down a lengthy line of kids who came to the edge of the track with meet programs, shirts, and permanent markers.
"I haven't raced [on the track] in a year and a half. I knew I was fit, but you never know what can happen in a race. I knew I had the potential to break the American record, and I'm very glad to see it fall. I just ran as hard as I could, and as smart as I could. They went out pretty hard at the beginning, and I just said to myself, 'Be patient.' My mantras have been 'patience' and 'controlled aggression,' and those two things were in my head. I tried to run conservatively and aggressively at the same time."
"I think Defar is a little sick, and I took advantage of that today. Typically she would be out a little bit farther. She really helped me today, I have to say. If it weren't for her, I don't think that American record would have fallen so far."
"Who knows what would have happened [if Flanagan had succeeded in passing Defar]. I knew I was a little ahead of the pace I wanted to run, but she's a really fast woman and there was no need to get too antsy. Next time around, it would be nice to get even closer. Now it's 8:33, what's the world record? I'll take [8:33] for today, but who knows what would have happened."
"8:54 is my previous PR, but I've never run a really good 3,000m before. It's always extra motivation to run well in front of my home crowd. There's so much support, I feel like I can do no wrong. I feel like no matter what happens, they're going to love me either way. It's nice to know that they care what I do."
Posted by Parker Morse at 8:02 p.m. | Tags: Athlete Features, Race Reports
corrado giambalvo commented, on January 30, 2007 at 5:43 a.m.:
a very well-collected interview from a woman who sounds like she did some real thinking while she was healing...