Simpson Finishes Eighth At World Championships

DOHA, Qatar — Jenny Simpson ran a season-best 3 minutes, 58.42 seconds in the finals of the 1,500-meter run, but it was not fast enough to finish on the podium as she ended up eighth at the 2019 IAAF World Championships.

"I ran a season-best," Simpson said. "I feel really good about it. Once I felt really out of the race, it was hard to keep running. I just told myself, 'Be the racer that you are no matter what place you are in,' so I really tried to run for seventh. It was not the day I wanted, but it was still fast and I'm not ashamed of my run at all."

Simpson went to the front of the pack at the start and was third after the opening 100-meters, but she dropped back to the middle of the field less than 200-meters later. Netherland's Sifan Hassan pushed the pace for the rest of the race.

The finals were extremely quick. Hassan won in championship record time (3:51.95), while the runner-up, Faith Kipyegon earned a time of 3:54.22. Third-place finisher, Gudaf Tsegay, clocked in at 3:54.38. Nine of the 12 athletes in the final finished with sub-4:00 times, and besides the meet record, three national records were set.

Simpson was the second American finisher in the race. Shelby Houlihan just missed the medals with her fourth-place finish, setting the American record (3:54.99) in the process. Nikki Hiltz placed 12^th in 4:06.68.

Related Videos