Posted: July 9, 2004

Athletics: U.S. Olympic Trials Begin Today

From David Monti with Tim O'Dowd

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

SACRAMENTO (09-Jul) -- The U.S. Olympic Team Trials begin today here in sunny Sacramento, and several key middle and long distance races are on top this evening.

The opening rounds of the men's and women's 800m will be held, with Nicole Teter, Jen Toomey, David Krummenacker and Khadevis Robinson the key athletes to watch.

The first round of a very competitive women's 5000m will also be held. In an odd situation, two flights of 9 athletes will run theh first round, only eliminating four athletes who will contest the final. Five women --Marla Runyan, Carrie Tollefson, Amy Rudolph, Shalane Flanagan and Shayne Culpepper-- have the Olympic Games "A" standard. RRW has learned that Lauren Fleshman, the next most qualified athlete, will probably not start tonight.

Finally, the men's 10,000m final will be the last event of the evening, and features a strong field led by U.S. record holders Meb Keflezighi and Bob Kennedy, with Abdi Abdirahman, Dan Browne and Dathan Ritzenhein all expected to contend for team spots (they all have the Olympic Games "A" standard. Keflezighi and Browne already have Olympic team berths in the marathon, which could allow them to take additional risks during the race.

For RRW subscribers in the United States, tonight's meet will be shown live on the USA Network for two hours beginning at 11:00 p.m. EDT. Extensive converage of the women's 5000m and men's 10,000m is planned.