Why would Elle Purrier St. Pierre open a spot for Valby in the 5k?

its a difficult double to pull off with the olympic schedule and the presumption is she has a better chance to finish highly in the 1500 which comes after the 5k. The thought is she might drop the 5k to be fresher for the 1500 rounds.

5k is probably her better medal chance. Some 14:50 pace race and seeing who has the best 800m. We can adjust after we see who has run 14:20 or 3:55 this year..

I thought this too until the Trials. She nearly lost to Cranny, who has no chance. I think the 5k is still a little long for her. Meanwhile she's already gone 3:56.0 in the 1500 and has a wicked kick. The 1500 is definitely her better shot this cycle.

The 1500 prelims are 13 hours after the 5K final. She said herself that she probably won’t double, but she hasn’t made a final decision. If she drops the 5K, she or her sponsor don’t get to pick the replacement. Furthermore, Valby hasn’t even signed a pro contract yet, and may be listening to multiple suitors.

1st 1500m heat is the morning after the 5000m final - about 12.5 hours after. As we saw with Mu, though, we can't count chickens, yet.

Gidey won't run 14:50.

Pipped at the post!

Elle is not coached by Bobby Kersee, hence she has a back up plan in case of some crazy catastrophe in the 1500.

Odds are, she'll drop the 5000 to focus on the 1500 in Paris.

Valby may very well finish top three this weekend in the 10,000 giving her choices to make.

Will Valby front run at the Olympics??

All respect to Valby but she’s never going to medal in any major championship if she runs even paced k’s from the front, towing faster finishers along with her as she did in the 5K. As difficult a challenge as it may be, she needs to train to surge and disrupt the tempo of those drafting on her.

Nah, the Japanese won't let her

I'm with you on this. No American woman has ever, EVER, medaled in the 5,000 at the Olympics. It's not going to be St. Pierre this year either. For the 1,500, last year in Budapest, Hassan got bronze in 3:56.00, which is Elle's best time exactly. She will need to run her best, but she will have a shot at a medal in the 1,500. Given that it's after the 5,000, I would think she will want to put all of her efforts into that.

After seeing Valby the other day, I actually disagree with this now. I could see a scenario just like Rio, especially in the heat, where somebody drops a 29-low to win the whole thing and there's just massive carnage behind them with Valby grabbing a bronze because she was able to stick with the pace before the wind up in the final two laps. Ayana won that race by 15 seconds and there were another 10 seconds between 2nd and 3rd. Maybe Valby just winds up like Molly Huddle and runs an American record for 6th, but I like how she would do in that kind of race.

And this would be for 4 years from now. If she is able to be at the Olympics in the 10,000 this year, she would do well to just not get lapped.

Wouldn't this serve as leverage for New Balance?

"Hey Valby you either sign with us or you won't go to the Olympics" as NB can make ESP stay on the 5000 team and just quit when it's race time.

I heard rumors that she already signed with Nike…

5K steeples

I see, then there's no way a New Balance athlete will open up a spot for a Nike athlete.

Sad day for Valbymania.

So, based on one race in which she ran the best strategy possible to have any hope, you are assuming that is the only strategy she can employ and won't learn to do anything differently as a professional, surrounded by faster runners?

Or am I reading that incorrectly.

Yes, she has to learn to shift gears but that was never the way to run in either her NCAA Title-winning races or the Olympic Trials.

I must be one of the few who thinks she has a better shot in the 5,000m. She can probably run sub 14:30 but is one of the fastest 1500m runners amongst the sub 14:30 crew. In the 1500m there are likely too many youngsters who have really fast 800m speed.

If she gets good enough she could. 14:00 or 29:00 and she'd drop all but one or two. Pretty hard to get that good though.