Jenny Simpson in the lead of the Women's 1500m with Mary Cain off her shoulder. (Photo by ImageOfSport)
Luzhniki Olympic Stadium, Moscow, Russia - The Wome's 1500m final at the IAAF World Championships was a thrilling one for hardcore track fans and fans of high school athletics alike! The 1500m final was anticipated by many ever since Mary Cain, the 17 year old phenom from Bronxville, NY, made the final of the event. Even better, Jenny Simpson, the 1500m World Champ from 2011, was back and in great form for a repeat performance.
Well then, how did it play out?! Jenny Simpson gave it her all for the gold, getting out to a solid start in 65.73 and the lead. Mary Cain was right with her, close to the front of a World final for the first time. The 800m split went by in 2:13.92 with Simpson still leading and setting a fast pace. With one lap to go Abeba Aregawi took the lead and pushed for home alongside Simpson, who gave nothing up in her push to win. Simpson lost ground from 300m to 150m to go, but closed hard to keep the suspense alive, but at the end it was all Aregawi.
As for Cain, she finished 10th in a race that was "all gravy" after making it through the tougher tactical rounds just to be able to toe the line today. Her time was 4:07.19, still an amazing time and quite impressive just days after she ran 4:05.21 in the semi-final round and 4:08.21 in her heat. How impressive is that? Well, consider that before Mary Cain arrived the US high school best was 'only" 4:14.50 by Jordan Hasay, also a Worlds qualifier in the 10,000m. And now Mary Cain owns the top-8 times in US high school history. Wow!
FloTrack Interview with Jenny Simpson
FloTrack Interview with Mary Cain
Athlete quotes courtesy of USATF.org
Jenny Simpson, women’s 1500m final
"I think the last 200 I was almost unconscious. I just kept telling myself, just run as hard as you can. The whole race I don't think I ever intended to lead as much as I did, but I definitely wanted to be in control, and as soon as I ended up in the lead I told myself, my mantra the whole way was, 'be hard to beat, be hard to beat, you be the one that everyone has to beat the last 200m.' When (Abeba) Aregawi (SWE) moved past me, I thought, ’this is perfect, I have someone to hunt,’ and that is when I am at my best. I just really tried to forget about the time, running on the rail and all that, just get up on her shoulder and remind her that you are going to fight and she is going to have to run hard. I don’t know exactly where the separation happened, but the whole time I was just trying to stay as close as I could.”
Mary Cain, women’s 1500m final
"Oh geez, I'm not even sad. I'm just angry, and I think that is a good thing. I think this is all a learning experience, this whole meet. I know I have to put things in perspective, and when I was in the line I was like, 'so many kids my age would die to do this.' But I'm a tough person, I expect a lot for myself, and I think later tonight I'll refocus.
“I don't know what happened, I really don't. I was in there, and I was running to win. That's crazy, I know. I think a lot of people didn't even think I'd get out of heats, kind of let alone myself. Then in the semis they were like, 'Did you see her race?' and they were like, 'no way'. I think a lot of people would have been like ‘hell, I'm cruising it in, I'm just going to be smiling, waving that last lap,’ but I knew I still could run faster and I just kicked it in.
“I think later tonight I'm going to be really, really angry in a good way, and I think I'm going to be really motivated. I think you guys are probably a little scared, normally you see me like, 'oh ducks, puddles' but I'm going to go home and I'm going to get into this. I think this is going to motivate me so much for next year. Next year there are no Worlds, it's just me and learning how to race."