Reid Ousted from Olympic 5000 Meter Competition

Sheila Reid this morning failed to advance to the Olympic 5000 meter final, finishing 15th in her semi-final heat, in 15:27.xx. Stating before the start of the competition that anything short of making the final would leave her "hugely disappointed," Reid is without a doubt too harsh on herself. She entered this 5000 meter heat with the 16th best PR of the 18 competitors, and the race for her went according to the form chart. In the early and middle part of the race, Reid was able to stay attached to the lead peloton, as it made its way through the laps. The race went though 1000 meter splits of 3:02, 3:03, 3:05, 3:02, and 2:48. When the serious racing started after the 3500 meter mark, however, Reid fell out the back and was unable to stay attached. As the results below indicate, Reid fell into that dreaded no-man's land, running adrift of other runners and having to make all the pace by herself. Still, when it was all said and done, Reid ran much faster than her performance (16:15.23) at the Canadian Olympic Trials, and in fact came home less than 4 seconds off her PR of 15:23.64. It now off to the professional ranks for Reid, and the dramatic improvements that full-time training bring. Despite not making the Olympic final, Reid has gained valuable international experience that will aid in her development. Onward and upward.

Women's 5000 Meters -- Heat 2

 1  1702  Gelete Burka         ETH  15:01.44  Q  .
 2  2327  Vivian Cheruiyot     KEN  15:01.54  Q  .
 3  2336  Sally Kipyego        KEN  15:01.87  Q  .
 4  1849  Julia Bleasdale      GBR  15:02.00  Q  (PB)
 5  3297  Molly Huddle         USA  15:02.26  Q  (SB)
 6  2881  Yelena Nagovitsyna   RUS  15:02.80  q  (PB)
 7  1871  Joanne Pavey         GBR  15:02.84  q  (SB)
 8  1258  Shitaye Eshete       BRN  15:05.48  q  (PB)
 9  2159  Elena Romagnolo      ITA  15:06.38  q  (PB)
10  2257  Hitomi Niiya         JPN  15:10.20     (PB)
11  1142  Almensh Belete       BEL  15:10.24     (SB)
12  3279  Kim Conley           USA  15:14.48     (PB)
13  2263  Mika Yoshikawa       JPN  15:16.77     (PB)
14  2151  Nadia Ejjafini       ITA  15:24.70     .
15  1315  Sheila Reid          CAN  15:27.41     .
16  3017  Zakia Mrisho         TAN  15:39.58     .
17  1097  Layes Abdullayeva    AZE  15:45.69     .
18  2761  Roxana Birca         ROU  16:01.04     .