Posted: June 13, 2004

Athletics: Butler Gets Olympic Standard In 10,000M

From David Monti

(c) 2004 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com

At the Norwich Union 10,000m Olympic Trials and AAA Championships at Watford, England last night, Kathy Butler ran a personal best 31:36.90 to guarantee her spot on Britain's Olympic team, but Hayley Yelling missed the standard by 14/100ths of a second and American Sylvia Mosqueda came up well short in 32:01.17. The standard is 31:45.00.

Both Butler and Yelling had previously missed the standard at the Cardinal Invitational at Stanford University in Calif., in April, running 31:45.63 and 31:50.85, respectively. Mosqueda had also made a previous attempt at the Mt. SAC Relays in April, running 31:57.64.

According to the British Press Association, Yelling missed the time because lapped runners were in lane one while she was trying to finish, and she had to swing wide into lane four, costing her fractions of seconds she could not afford to lose. Yelling can make one more attempt at the time at Gateshead on 27-Jun where Paula Radcliffe will be running.

Said Butler of Yelling, “At least when I just missed out, I knew there was another race in six weeks’ time. I didn’t want to run another one, but I knew I had another chance. Hayley has come back before and, though it’s a tough ask in only two weeks, I really hope she can make it to Athens. I don’t want to be on that plane without her!”

Top Results:
Men:
1 Kamiel Maase (Netherlands) 27:51.99; 2 Koen Raymaekers (Netherlands) 29:04.85; 3 Matt O’Dowd (Swindon AC) 29:05.08.

Women:
1 Kathy Butler (Windsor, Slough, Eton and Hounslow AC) 31:36.90; 2 Hayley Yelling (Windsor, Slough, Eton and Hounslow AC) 31:45.14; 3 Sylvia Mosqueda 32:01.17; 4 Natalie Harvey (South London Harriers) 32:14.01; 5 Collette Fagan (City of Glasgow AC) 33:00.31.

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