Courtney Wayment, the former BYU collegiate champion, celebrated her birthday by qualifying for the Olympic finals in the 3,000-meter steeplechase Sunday in Paris.
Running in the first of three first-round heats on her 26th birthday, Wayment placed fourth in a race that was decided by a tight, crowded homestretch sprint to the finish. The top six runners finished within four tenths of a second of each other. Only the top five advance to the final.
Uganda’s Peruth Chemutai, the defending Olympic champion, was the winner with a time of 9:10.51, followed by Kenya’s Faith Cherotich in 9:10.57, Germany’s Gesa Krause in 9:10.68, Wayment in 9:10.72, Ethiopia’s Lomi Muleta in 9:10.73, and Tunisia’s Marwa Bouzayani in 9:10.91.
They were also the top six fastest times overall among the three heats.
“It was a fast pace and (Wayment) handled it really well,” said Wayment’s coach, Diljeet Taylor, from Paris. “She was tactically sound and looked good over the water jumps. She used racing instincts to make good moves to position herself well. Really proud she has moved to the final!”
Wayment was one of two Americans to advance to the final. Valerie Constien, the winner of the U.S. Olympic trials, placed third in the second heat. Marisa Howard was seventh in the third heat and did not qualify.
Wayment is the second of two former BYU track and field athletes to compete in Paris so far and the second to advance to the final. Whittni Morgan, Wayment’s training partner, placed sixth in Friday’s first round of the 5,000-meter run to qualify for Monday’s final. Wayment will compete in the finals of the steeplechase on Tuesday at 1:14 p.m. MDT.
“I am super proud of Courtney and Whittni for moving through to the finals,” Taylor said. “The plan was to come here and race their hearts out. They did that on the biggest stage. I am really proud and excited for both finals.”
BYU teammates Kenneth Rooks and James Corrigan will compete in the first round of the men’s steeplechase on Monday.
Wayment’s qualification was not unexpected. She has the seventh-fastest time in the world this year, 9:06.50, which she produced while finishing second in the Olympic trials five weeks ago. That makes her the fourth-fastest American ever. She also qualified for the finals of the world track and field championships in 2023, finishing 15th.
