Elle St. Pierre is bound for another Olympics with yet another meet-record performance by the Vermont native.
The 29-year-old dairy farmer from Montgomery out-leaned Elise Cranny at the finish line to claim a pulsating 5,000-meter run at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials in Eugene, Oregon, on Monday night.
The narrow victory seals St. Pierre’s spot for this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris. St. Pierre’s time of 14 minutes, 40.34 seconds is a new Trials record, breaking Regina Jacobs’ 25-year-old mark.
Tactically moving up in the field in the 12.5-lap race, St. Pierre took over the lead from Florida’s Parker Valby with just over 800 meters to go. Then St. Pierre and Cranny, both known for their finishing kicks, duked it out over the final two laps, with St. Pierre having just enough to hold off Cranny by two hundredths of a seconds for the national title.
“I’ve been waiting for this for a bit. The 5k always hurts and I just dug a little deeper at the end there,” St. Pierre said on the NBC telecast after being asked about having her 1-year-old son, Ivan, in the stands. “It’s just so emotional to have Ivan here and I’m really proud to be his mom.”
Purrier’s competition at this year’s Trials is not over just yet. She’ll start her bid in the 1,500 with a first-round heat on Thursday night in Eugene. St. Pierre also won the 1,500 at the 2021 Trials to reach the Tokyo Games and establish a new meet mark.
Source: Burlington Free Press / Alex Abrami
Photo Credit: Ben Lonergan / The Register-Guard