Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Kara Goucher qualifies for 2012 Summer Olympics


Kara Goucher of Portland, Ore., placed third in Saturday’s U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials for women in Houston, Texas, to earn a spot in the 2012 Summer Games in London.

The top three women and men advanced to the Olympic Games. Both races were held on the same day and the same course for the first time in American history.

Shalane Flanagan, Goucher’s training partner in Portland, Ore., has won in 2:25:38, followed by favorite Desiree Davila in 2:25:55 and Goucher 2:26:06. They were well under the U.S. Trials record of 2:28.

Saturday's trial was the second marathon for the 30-year-old Flanagan and first since she was the runner-up in New York in 2010. She has qualified for her third Olympics.

Davila, 28, the runner-up in Boston last year, is set to make her Olympic debut.

Goucher, 33, will compete in her second Games after running in the 5,000- and 10,000-meter races in Beijing.

Also, Jennifer Houck,27, a St. Scholastica graduate from Wright, was 47th in a field of 152 in 2:40:51; and Duluthian Katie Koski, 38, in a third U.S. Olympic Trials, was 80th in 2:45:27.

No comments: