Colorado University Athletics
Photo by: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Simpson Captures Silver Medal At IAAF Championships
August 07, 2017 | Track and Field, Alumni C Club
Former Buff earns fourth international medal
LONDON — Using a killer kick and incredible instinct, former Colorado Buffalo Jenny Simpson outsprinted several racers in the last 80 meters to earn a silver medal in the 1,500-meter run at the 2017 IAAF World Championships on Monday at Queen Elizabeth Stadium.
After the gun, Simpson went right to the front of the pack with England's Laura Muir, who led the field through the first 400 in just over 65 seconds. The pace slowed in the next lap to 72 seconds, with the field going through in 2:17.
Sifan
Hassan of the Netherlands surged to the lead with 600 meters to go, and Simpson followed. At the bell it was Hassan, Faith Kipyegon and Muir, with Simpson on the rail in fourth. Hassan and Kipyegon sprinted, shoulder to shoulder, down the backstretch and built up a lead of several meters, but Muir put in a huge surge with 200 to go, and the race was on.
Down the stretch, Hassan began to tire as the quartet sprinted, with Olympic 800 gold medalist Caster Semenya of South Africa giving chase. Running in fourth, Simpson boldly took the rail to pass Muir on the inside, then chased down Hassan and nearly caught Kipyegon, who won in 4:02.59. Simpson was second in 4:02.76, followed by Semenya in 4:02.90 and Muir fourth in 4:02.97.
This is the fourth international medal Simpson has won in the 1,500. She won the world championship in 2011 and was the runner-up in 2013. Simpson also took home the bronze at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.
Quotes:
Jenny Simpson:
"On that final stretch, I just thought I could win. No one's going to believe I'm doing this again. It felt so amazing and it was kind of a surprisingly lucid final 300 for me. I tried to stay calm and then release the beast the last 80 meters or so. I wanted to make it to the finish line because I was running so hard to stay with that group, so I wanted to preserve my ability to make it to the end. I can see how hard Faith and Hassan are racing each other and I really believe I can get one of them if they're working this hard this far out. It's so weird to me that I can have all of those thoughts in those few, short seconds. But I knew I could run at least one of them down. I have to give so much credit to my coach, Heather Burroughs. She's been talking to me all week about not hesitating. When we made it to the curve, I remember thinking that whether they break to the outside or stay on the inside, don't hesitate. You gotta just go for it. I give her huge credit for my medal tonight, because her advice really paid off."
Mark Wetmore, Jenny Simpson's coach:
On her kick down the last 100-meters
"Jenny has been known to have a lethal kick when circumstances are right. Normally that would be when the pace was slow, but it wasn't terribly slow. She's felt good the last 10 days and has acted really confident. I've only been interacting with her on the phone, but between what she's told (Coach Heather Burroughs) and me on the phone, she was ready. She was really confident. She let it get away from her a little with about 200 to go, but then with 100 to go she was just a badger, or some killer predator. It might be her best race ever."
On whether he expected her to medal
"She went into the race ranked 14th in the world, and of those 14, she ended up ninth among the people who made the final. The form chart certainly wouldn't have picked her to be second, but she had a whole new level of confidence and calmness that I had never seen before. I had a gut feeling that she was going to do really well."
After the gun, Simpson went right to the front of the pack with England's Laura Muir, who led the field through the first 400 in just over 65 seconds. The pace slowed in the next lap to 72 seconds, with the field going through in 2:17.
Sifan
Hassan of the Netherlands surged to the lead with 600 meters to go, and Simpson followed. At the bell it was Hassan, Faith Kipyegon and Muir, with Simpson on the rail in fourth. Hassan and Kipyegon sprinted, shoulder to shoulder, down the backstretch and built up a lead of several meters, but Muir put in a huge surge with 200 to go, and the race was on.Down the stretch, Hassan began to tire as the quartet sprinted, with Olympic 800 gold medalist Caster Semenya of South Africa giving chase. Running in fourth, Simpson boldly took the rail to pass Muir on the inside, then chased down Hassan and nearly caught Kipyegon, who won in 4:02.59. Simpson was second in 4:02.76, followed by Semenya in 4:02.90 and Muir fourth in 4:02.97.
This is the fourth international medal Simpson has won in the 1,500. She won the world championship in 2011 and was the runner-up in 2013. Simpson also took home the bronze at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.
Quotes:
Jenny Simpson:
"On that final stretch, I just thought I could win. No one's going to believe I'm doing this again. It felt so amazing and it was kind of a surprisingly lucid final 300 for me. I tried to stay calm and then release the beast the last 80 meters or so. I wanted to make it to the finish line because I was running so hard to stay with that group, so I wanted to preserve my ability to make it to the end. I can see how hard Faith and Hassan are racing each other and I really believe I can get one of them if they're working this hard this far out. It's so weird to me that I can have all of those thoughts in those few, short seconds. But I knew I could run at least one of them down. I have to give so much credit to my coach, Heather Burroughs. She's been talking to me all week about not hesitating. When we made it to the curve, I remember thinking that whether they break to the outside or stay on the inside, don't hesitate. You gotta just go for it. I give her huge credit for my medal tonight, because her advice really paid off."
Mark Wetmore, Jenny Simpson's coach:
On her kick down the last 100-meters
"Jenny has been known to have a lethal kick when circumstances are right. Normally that would be when the pace was slow, but it wasn't terribly slow. She's felt good the last 10 days and has acted really confident. I've only been interacting with her on the phone, but between what she's told (Coach Heather Burroughs) and me on the phone, she was ready. She was really confident. She let it get away from her a little with about 200 to go, but then with 100 to go she was just a badger, or some killer predator. It might be her best race ever."
On whether he expected her to medal
"She went into the race ranked 14th in the world, and of those 14, she ended up ninth among the people who made the final. The form chart certainly wouldn't have picked her to be second, but she had a whole new level of confidence and calmness that I had never seen before. I had a gut feeling that she was going to do really well."
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