Whittni Morgan’s improbable comeback just got better. Running in the first round of the 5,000-meter run in the Paris Olympic Games, Morgan placed sixth to advance to Monday’s Olympic final.
Morgan, whose knee surgery in November greatly delayed her training for a run at the Olympics, ran with great patience and savvy Friday. Almost from the start, she settled into 13th place, running on the rail in a crowded pack. She remained there, lap after lap of the 12½-lap race, following the plan she had formulated with coach Diljeet Taylor, who told her, “Just to sit and relax until it starts to go.”
With two laps remaining, Morgan began to work her way up front, and with a lap to go she swung wide and was one of six women to break away from the field, sprinting the homestretch to the finish.
“She looked really good and made the right move very decisively,” said Taylor, who was in Paris for the race.
Morgan finished with a time of 15:02.14, just .07 off her personal record set last year. Kenya’s Beatrice Chebet won the heat with a time of 15:00.73.
“Perfectly executed race,” said Taylor. “I’m beyond proud. Faith and hope — those were the keys today. And wow ... speechless.”
All three Americans were among the 16 women to advance to the finals. Elise Cranny and Kara Schweizer finished seventh and eighth, respectively, in the first heat, with times of 14:58.55 and 14:59.64.
There were 20 women in each of the two heats and only the top eight advanced to the final. The final will consist of a loaded field, most notably Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon, the two-time Olympic 1,500-meter champion and world-record holder, and the Netherlands’ Siffan Hassan, the defending Olympic 5,000- and 10,000-meter champion.
Perhaps no runner in Paris has had a more improbaby run than Morgan, BYU’s 2021 NCAA cross-country champ who grew up in tiny Panguitch, Utah. She underwent knee surgery on Nov. 20 and was on crutches for a month. She didn’t begin running until February. She didn’t run her first race of the year until April 13.
She has been playing catchup since then, but she managed to finish fifth in the Olympic Trials, behind Elle St. Pierre, Cranny, Schweizer and Parker Valby. Only the top three advance to the Olympic Games, but when both St. Pierre and Valby opted out of the 5,000 to focus on the 1,500, and 10,000, respectively, a spot for Morgan opened up.
Morgan gave a hint of what was to come two weeks ago when she beat a couple of U.S. Olympians to win a 1,500-meter race in Los Angeles with a superb time of 4:02.59.
