Laura Thweatt’s Olympic dream will have to wait another four years.
The 2007 Durango High School graduate competed Thursday in the first of two qualifying heats in the women’s 5,000-meter run. Thweatt, 27, led her heat through 3,800 meters, but the final 1,200 saw the University of Colorado product fall all the way to eighth.
Only the top six times in each heat automatically advanced. The next four fastest times also earned a spot in Sunday’s final, but the second heat ran at a much faster pace than the first, and Thweatt’s time of 15 minutes, 50.60 seconds wasn’t good enough to earn one of the final four spots.
The final lap of Thweatt’s heat was incredibly fast. She ran the lap in 1 minute, 15.98 seconds. Heat winner Kim Conley blazed through the final lap in 1:07.17. Second-place Kellen Taylor, third-place Nicole Tully and fourth-place Emily Infeld all ran sub-1:08 laps to guarantee their place in Sunday’s final.
Conley’s 15:40.04 finish was good enough to get past Taylor (15.40.15) and Tully (15.40.27). Infeld, who qualified for the Olympics in the women’s 10,000-meter run last Saturday with a second-place finish behind Molly Huddle, crossed in 15:40.35. Hall was more than 2 seconds back.
Jessica Tebo earned the first heat’s final spot. Tebo and Thweatt ran together for the first half of the race, and Tebo held on to finish in 15:43.64.
The second heat ran at a blistering pace. Thweatt led the first 1,800 meters in 5:47.03, while all 12 women in the second heat ran the same distance in less than 5:40.
Huddle, the U.S. women’s 5K record holder, had the fastest finishing time of either heat. The Olympic Team Trials 10K winner completed the 5K in 15:26.33. All six automatic qualifiers in the second heat finished faster than the winner of the first heat. Katie Mackey (15:26.64) took second, and Shelby Houlihan (15:26.91) was third.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
