So do me a favor. Watch the end of this video. It’s all queued up for you. It’s a great race, with only 0.02 separating first and second. But keep an eye out for the woman crossing in fifth place.
That is Whittni Morgan. She ran hard, and finished fifth. She looks quite beat at the end, but she obviously gave it her all. That’s amazing. But only the three top finishers make the Olympic team.
But actually, that isn’t always true.
The finish of the 5000m race was awesome, with Elle St. Pierre just edging out Elise Cranny for the win. Third place went to Karissa Schweizer. Fourth — and this is important — went to Parker Varby. Then came Whittni Morgan.
Here are the final results:
- Elle St. Pierre - 14:40.34
- Elise Cranny - 14:40.36
- Karissa Schweizer - 14:45.12
- Parker Valby - 14:51.44
- Whittni Morgan - 15:05.53.
Now, for your edification, here are the results of the Women’s 10,000m race:
- Weini Kelait - 31:41.07
- Parker Valby - 31:41.56
- Karissa Schweizer - 31:41.56
and here are the top three finishers in the Womens 1500m race, run earlier in the week:
- Nikki Hiltz - 3:55.33
- Emily Mackay - 3:55.90
- Elle St. Pierre - 3:55.99
Now you might notice some overlap in the names there.
Okay, so Elle St. Pierre, the 5000m winner, also made the team in the 1500m, where she finished second. Parker Valby came in fourth in the 5000m race, but second in the 10,000m.
St. Pierre has decided to focus totally on the 1500m at the Olympics and gave up her spot in the 5000m race. This bumped Parker Valby up to the third spot, but she has decided to run only the 10,000m race in the Olympics.
This means that Whittni Morgan, the fifth place finisher in the 5000m is an Olympian.
I don’t know why I like that so much, but I think that is cool. It just tells me to give it everything you have even if you aren’t going to finish in the Top Three and go to the Olympics, because maybe you never know what can happen.