Emma Coburn wins 3000m steeplechase final, clinches Rio bid
You"re probably not familiar with the steeplechase, but it"s an incredibly difficult event.
It involves running and jumping -- repeatedly and over long distances. Because of this, there are occasionally nasty falls or missed obstacles.
One such fall happened on Wednesday, when Uganda"s Jacob Araptany tripped and slammed his head into the barrier that the runners are supposed to jump over.
Araptany was OK after the scary fall, but was forced to withdraw from the race. Kenya"s Conseslus Kirupto wound up taking the gold, while American Evan Jager won silver. Another Kenyan, Ezekiel Kemboi finished with the bronze.
U.S." Coburn makes history with 3000m steeplechase bronze
In May, Glastonbury High graduate Donn Cabral shared a high school track in Glen Gardner, N.J., with a group of students making up a missed gym class.
Cabral, one of the all-time best American steeplechasers, was getting in an early afternoon workout and politely asked to use Lane 1.
His company will be a little different Wednesday in Brazil.
After four years spent training and preparing in relative obscurity, Cabral, who graduated from Glastonbury in 2008, will run in the Olympic 3,000-meter steeplechase final in Rio de Janeiro.
The final starts at about 10:55 a.m. at Olympic Stadium, where temperatures are expected to be in the 80s.
Cabral, 26, is trying to become the first American in 32 years to medal in the event, which includes running, hurdling and jumping over a water pit on the track. Brian Diemer won the bronze in 1984 in Los Angeles.
It is the second straight Olympic final for Cabral.
In 2012, he ran well, leading for portions of the race, but finished eighth with a time of 8:25.91.
On Monday, Cabral ran 8:21.96, the third-fastest time of qualifying rounds. He was the third automatic qualifier in the third and final heat, which was the fastest run.
All eyes will once again be on the Kenyans in the final. Kenya has won the last eight gold medals in the event and 10 of the last 12. In the qualifying rounds, Kenya"s Conseslus Kipruto had the fastest qualifying time of 8:21.40.
Ezekiel Kemboi, who won the gold medal in 2012 and 2004, qualified with the eighth-fastest time of 8:25.51.
Sport Illustrated predicted a sweep of the event by the Kenyans with Conseslus Kipruto winning gold, Kemboi taking silver and Brimin Kiprop Kipruto getting bronze. At the World Championships in Beijing last August, Kenya swept the medals with Kemboi going first and Conseslus Kipruto taking second. But the Americans enter the meet with their own piece of steeplechase history. It is the first time three Americans have advanced to the final in 80 years.
Hillary Bor and Evan Jager both made the final, each winning a heat Monday. Jager is considered a medal contender after finishing sixth at the World Championships last year. Bor ran 8:25.01 and Jager ran 8:25.86. Bor"s time was the sixth fastest and Jager"s was ninth in qualifying.
Mahiedine Mekhissi, who won the silver medal in 2012, will also be back after finishing 12th in qualifying in 8:26.32.
But Cabral enters the final with his own motivation and momentum.
He is coming off two of his best performances of the season.
After running 8:26.37 and finishing third in the final at the U.S. Olympic trials, Cabral returned to Eugene, Ore., about three weeks later and ran 8:20.72 to win the steeplechase at the Track Town summer series.
Cabral will be pulling on his experience from London in 2012.
In the final four years ago, Cabral mixed it up with the best, getting to the front of the pack early in the race. But on the closing lap, he wasn"t able to close the gap on the leaders. He enters Wednesday"s final more experienced and also healthy, coming off several weeks of training in Flagstaff, Ariz., where he ran at altitude.
Emma Coburn wins 3000m steeplechase final, clinches Rio bid
AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post
Emma Coburn celebrates with the American flag after the women"s 3000-meter steeplechase on Monday, Aug. 15, 2016.
AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post
The pack makes a turn on lap one during the women"s 3000-meter steeplechase on Monday, Aug. 15, 2016. Coburn won the bronze medal.
AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post
Emma Coburn of the United States runs with the pack on lap 2 during the women"s 3000-meter steeplechase on Monday, Aug. 15, 2016. Coburn won the bronze medal.
AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post
Emma Coburn clears the barrier on lap 3 during the women"s 3000-meter steeplechase on Monday, Aug. 15, 2016. Coburn won the bronze medal.
AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post
Emma Coburn of the United States (left) and Hyvin Jepkemoi of Kenya (right) duke it out for silver as Ruth Jebet of Bahrain raises her hands in victory during the women"s 3000-meter steeplechase on Monday, Aug. 15, 2016. Jepkemoi won silver and Coburn won the bronze medal.
AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post
Emma Coburn talks with her supporters after the women"s 3000-meter steeplechase on Monday, Aug. 15, 2016. Coburn won the bronze medal.
AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post
Emma Coburn of the United States prepares a flag to carry around the stadium after the women"s 3000-meter steeplechase on Monday, Aug. 15, 2016. Coburn won the bronze medal.
AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post
Emma Coburn of the United States (right) congratulates gold medalist Ruth Jebet of Bahrain before the medals ceremony for the women"s 3000-meter steeplechase on Monday, Aug. 15, 2016. Coburn won the bronze medal.
AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post
Emma Coburn stands on the podium during the medals ceremony for the women"s 3000-meter steeplechase on Monday, Aug. 15, 2016. Coburn won the bronze medal.
AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post
Emma Coburn catches an American flag from a fan after the women"s 3000-meter steeplechase on Monday, Aug. 15, 2016. Coburn won the bronze medal.
Boulders Emma Coburn claimed the first American medal ever in the steeplechase Monday morning,August 15, 2016, taking bronze in a race won by Ruth Jebet of Bahrain.
Emma Coburn wins 3000m steeplechase final, clinches Rio bid
Shaun Botterill/Getty
The second week of the Olympics are underway in Rio, meaning swimming and gymnastics have given way to track and field ("athletics" to most non-Americans). And while most track and field eventsare fairly straightforward run this distance as fast as you can; throw this object as far as you can one event in particular stands out for its sheerweirdness. Thiswould be the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
The casual fan of the Olympics may, understandably, wonder what"s going onwith the steeplechase: what are these massive barriers doing on the track, and why are the runners jumping over them? Why is there a water pit? And why, really, is this sillyrace called thesteeplechase?
Allow us to explain.
Like many track and field events, the steeplechase"s origins can be traced back to United Kingdom. Runners, as they were apparently wont to do,would often race each other from one town"s church steeple to the next. The steeples were chosen because they were easy to see from long distances,leading to the name "steeplechase."
The countryside would also require runners to jump over various barriers over the course of their race. These included stone walls and small rivers. When the race was modernized, the walls were simulated with hurdles and the rivers and creeks were simulated with the water pit.
According to the IAAF,the modern 3,000-meter steeplechase track event with the barriers and the water pit first originated at Oxford University in the mid-19th century.It was then included in the EnglishChampionship in 1879. In the Olympics, men have raced the steeplechase since 1920, while the women, somewhat shockingly, only first raced it at the Olympics in 2008 in Beijing.
Today, the race features five barriers: four hurdles plus the barrierbefore the water pit. For the men, those barriers are 36 inches, and for the women they are 30 inches. The water pit, meanwhile, is 12 feet long for both.
Often you"ll see runners land one foot on the top of the barrier to propel themselves over it, though many elite runners just clear the whole thing altogether.Wipeouts are all too common, especially in or around the water.
Here"s an example of what can happen if you don"t properly traverse the water pit:
Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters
It"s a quirky race, to be sure, but it"s also a sneakily fun one.
Emma Coburn wins 3000m steeplechase final, clinches Rio bid
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) With one shoe on and one shoe off, Etenesh Diro raised a big cheer at the Olympics on Saturday with a gutsy finish in her 3,000-meters steeplechase heat.
Initially outside the qualifying places, the Ethiopian was rewarded following a protest by three teams, including her own with a place in Monday"s final.
This is what happened:
Diro was cruising along comfortably in the pack with a couple of laps to go when she got tangled up with some other competitors and her right shoe came half-off. For precious seconds, the Ethiopian athlete knelt on the track and tried to pull the shoe back on.
It just wouldn"t go and runner after runner passed her. Finally giving up on it, Diro ripped the shoe off completely and threw it away, took a few steps, then removed her right sock, too.
She ran the rest of the grueling race, the best part of three laps, with just one shoe on and her right foot bare, negotiating the barriers and the water jump, and overtaking a number of rivals as the crowd urged her on.
She finished seventh and fell to the track, exhausted and clutching her foot. She"d thought she"d missed out.
But following protests by the Ethiopia, Ireland and Jamaica teams, Diro, Ireland"s Sara Treacy and Jamaica"s Aisha Praught were advanced to the final.
Diro was clipped from behind, but her shoe issue also caused a pile up of runners behind her, with Praught taking a tumble because of it.
"I went down pretty hard. You brace because you don"t expect that," Praught said. "All I know is the girl in front of me stopped to put on her shoe. She stopped right in front of me. That"s when I fell ... You don"t expect that."
Praught said "brake lights" on the runners ahead of her would have been helpful.
As for her own shoes, Praught said: "I tie them very tightly."
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