Colorado University Athletics
Simpson, Coburn Continue Quest For Olympic Medals
August 14, 2016 | Track and Field, Neill Woelk, Olympians
Simpson runs in 1,500 semis Sunday; Coburn in steeplechase final Monday
Colorado Olympians Jenny Simpson and Emma Coburn will continue their quest for Olympic medals Sunday and Monday in Rio.
The two are training partners in Boulder and both train under Colorado track and cross country coaches Mark Wetmore and Heather Burroughs.
Simpson, a multiple-time NCAA Champion and All-American at Colorado, will run in the 1,500-meter semifinals Sunday evening. She is scheduled to run in the second heat, with the first heat set to begin at 6:30 p.m. (Mountain time) and the second heat at 6:41 p.m.
The top five finishers in each heat, plus the next two fastest finishers overall will advance to Tuesday's final. There are 12 runners in each semifinal heat.
Simpson finished fourth in her first-round qualifying heat on Friday in 4 minutes, 6.09 seconds to easily advance to the semifinals.
After her first-round race, Simpson told reporters that she had been inspired by a gift from her younger sister, Emily Bradshaw, a fire chief in the U.S. Army in Fort Stewart, Ga.
"She said, 'To be brave is to move forward,'" Simpson said. "That was kind of my thought tonight. Today is all about just moving forward, advancing to the next round.'"
Simpson entered the Olympics with one of the top 10 times in the world this year in the 1,500. She won the gold medal in the event at the 2011 World Championships and was the silver medalist in the 2013 World Championships.
Coburn, also an NCAA champion and All-American at Colorado and the American record holder in the steeplechase, easily advanced to Monday morning's steeplechase final by finishing second in her qualifying heat Saturday. Her time of 9 minutes, 18.12 seconds was third-best among the 53 runners in the opening round.
The steeplechase final is set to begin at 8:15 a.m. A total of 18 women are scheduled to run in the final.
In her first-round race, Coburn moved to the front of the pack early and remained there for the rest of the race.
"I felt good leading and I felt comfortable," she told reporters after the race. "I felt like I had another gear in that last kilometer if I needed it."
Coburn has the third-fastest time in the world this year.
Other Olympians with CU connections still to compete include sprinter Jeremy Dodson and triathlete Flora Duffy. Dodson, a former member of the CU track team competing for Samoa, will run in the 200-meter opening rounds Tuesday. Duffy, a CU grad, will compete in the women's triathlon Saturday.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
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