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Shayne Culpepper has a pair of U.S. indoor championships at 3,000m, and in 2004 she won the Olympic Trials 5,000m against a tough field. But now, in 2007, she's coming back down to the event where she made her first Olympic team, in 2000: the mile and 1,500m. She won the indoor mile title in 4:34.42 Saturday on the first day of the USA Indoor Track & Field Championships at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston, Massachusetts.
Culpepper admitted that the shift might be a little opportunistic. After all, the 1,500m she moved away from was dominated by the 12-year duel between Regina Jacobs and Suzy Favor Hamilton, and since then Jacobs' career has ended in disgrace and Hamilton has been pretty much invisible. But Culpepper also sees unrealized potential. "I feel like I'm so untapped in this event," she said after Saturday's victory. "With my 800m speed and my 5,000m PR, I feel like I can be competitive at the Olympics and the World Championships in this event. I'd like to run close to 4:00 in the 1,500m, if not under. As soon as I say that, it takes it away from me, but I do think my potential indicates that I should be able to run that."
"I'd like to have an 'A' standard in the 5,000m as well, but for Osaka my focus is on the 1,500m. One of the biggest scary things for me is the tactics, and being able to come out and practice that is really important."
Posted by Parker Morse at 7:31 p.m. | Tags: Race Reports, 2007 USA Indoor T&F Champs