Allie Wilson Leave the Olympics in Tears but Proud Of Herself
By LetsRun.comIf you ever want to know what the Olympics mean to athletes, you should have seen American 800m runner Allie Wilson after she failed to advance to the semifinals of the 800m this morning.
Wilson had come into Paris on a high, running a 1:57.52 PR at the London Diamond League meet in her final meet before the Olympics.
Allie Wilson leads her repechage round (Kevin Morris photo)
On Friday she failed to advance to the semi-finals directly and had to run the “repechage” round on Saturday, a losers bracket where athletes get a second chance to qualify.
With only the winner of each of the four heats automatically qualifying for the semifinals plus the next 2 fastest times qualifying for the finals, there was little room for error. Wilson lead her heat until the final 100m when she faded to third. She held onto the final time qualifier until she was edged out in the final heat.
Wilson’s Olympic dream was over and she was in tears in the mixed zone afterwards as the weight of it all hit her.
“I’m not gonna lie to you it went very differently than I imagined.” Wilson hadn’t even contemplated having to run the repechage round but quickly refocused.
Wilson was in tears and had to take a few moments to compose herself as she said, “I tried to have a short memory and turn the page and give myself a clean slate for today. I don’t think I raced my race yesterday. But I did that today. That’s all I could ask for. It wasn’t enough so I can at least know I did what I had to do to try and advance.”
Wilson felt she could leave with her head high “I really am proud of myself… Even being here is like my greatest accomplishment. I’m really proud of myself.”
The Olympics are a big deal because they mean so much.
Discussion: Allie Wilson goes home devastated
