As has been the case all year, Elle St. Pierre simply wouldn’t be denied in Monday’s 5,000-meter final. She countered repeated attacks by Elise Cranny over the final 250 meters to win in a Trials record of 14:40.34. Cranny was inches behind in 14:40.36 for second. Karissa Schweizer finished third in 14:45.12.
The fast times for a championship race came thanks to NCAA champion Parker Valby. She is so dominant at the college level that she hasn’t yet had to learn how to run in large packs. As the field bunched in the first 200 meters, Valby zigzagged through several runners to get her accustomed spot up front. She locked into a steady rhythm of 71- and 72-second laps, a little under 15:00 pace for 5,000 meters. A single-file train that included five Olympians set up behind the brave 21-year-old.
Valby kept cranking out consistent laps to the finish, which she reached in a personal best of 14:51.44. But doing so got her fourth. At this level, you need to be able to kick off a fast pace to be competitive. When St. Pierre passed Valby for the lead with two laps to go, Cranny and Schweizer immediately covered the move. Valby started to lose contact with the three and drifted farther behind over the final two minutes.
St. Pierre started pressing for good over the final lap. Cranny tried once on the backstretch to get past her, but St. Pierre accelerated ever so slightly, pushing back Cranny’s attempt. St. Pierre maintained her meager margin through the final turn. Cranny tried again, and again, and again in the final straightaway. Her last surge almost worked, but the finish line appeared just as her momentum was about to scooch her past St. Pierre.
Even before tonight, St. Pierre was having a career year. In February, she ran 4:16.41 to break her own U.S. indoor mile record. The following month, she outkicked the 5,000-meter world record-holder, Gudaf Tsegay of Ethiopia, to win the world indoor 3,000-meter title. (Her winning time of 8:20.87 broke the U.S. record.) Her outdoor season has included personal bests at 1500 meters (3:56.00, second on the all-time U.S. list) and 5,000 meters (14:34.12).
Her results are all the more impressive given that she gave birth to her first child, son Ivan, in March 2023. After the race, St. Pierre lifted Ivan up to celebrate on the track at Hayward Field.
“The 5K always hurts, and I just dig a little deeper at the end there,” St. Pierre told NBC’s Lewis Johnson after the race. “I’m just so emotional to have Ivan here, and I’m really proud to be his mom.”
Cranny also took an unconventional path to her second Olympic team. Last year, she left the Bowerman Track Club, the high-octane training group she’d been part of for four years. She returned to her native Colorado to train with Team Boss in Boulder, but split amicably with the group in February. She’s now coached remotely by Jarred Cornfield, associate head coach for distance and mid-distance at Northern Arizona University.
Don’t expect too raucous a celebration from St. Pierre and Cranny. Both are entered in the 1500 meters, which has its first of three rounds when the Trials resume on Thursday. Which leads us to…
The first three finishers–all Olympians in 2021 as well–already had the automatic Olympic qualifying standard before tonight’s race. If they choose to, they will be the U.S. squad for the Paris Games in August. But if St. Pierre or Cranny make the 1500-meter team later in the week, and if they opt to focus on that distance for the Olympics, then Valby would be named to the 5,000 squad. Her time was not just a personal best, but half a second under the automatic Olympic qualifying standard.
The Paris competition schedule makes the 1500/5,000 double especially challenging–the first round of the 1500 starts 13 hours after the 5,000 final. St. Pierre’s coach, Mark Coogan, told Runner’s World “TBD” when asked after tonight’s race if she would double in Paris. St. Pierre said after the race that she hadn’t made that decision yet, “but I think the schedule would be tough.”
Like St. Pierre and Cranny, Valby has more racing to do at the Trials. She’s entered in Saturday’s 10,000-meter final, and could conceivably make the team in that event, one day before tonight’s top two finishers try to make the 1500 team.
Scott Douglas
Contributing Writer
Scott is a veteran running, fitness, and health journalist who has held senior editorial positions at Runner’s World and Running Times. Much of his writing translates sport science research and elite best practices into practical guidance for everyday athletes. He is the author or coauthor of several running books, including Running Is My Therapy, Advanced Marathoning, and Meb for Mortals. Scott has also written about running for Slate, The Atlantic, the Washington Post, and other members of the sedentary media. His lifetime running odometer is past 110,000 miles, but he’s as much in love as ever.
