Whittaker Sisters Take on Olympic Track Together.
Running in the first round of the women’s 800 meters on August 2, Wilson finished sixth in her heat in 1:59.69. Only the top three from each of six heats advanced to the semifinals.
Everyone else? On to the repechage round. That included Wilson, who headed back to Stade de France the following morning, August 3, for a second chance.
Repechage is a new wrinkle in track and field for this Olympic Games. In individual events from 200 meters to 1500 meters, and also the hurdle events, athletes who don’t automatically advance get another try—the repechage round.
Consider it a consolation bracket, with the winners from repechage rejoining the automatic qualifiers.
This is a change from other top-level track meets. Usually, a set number of qualifiers from early rounds advance on place and then a few others advance based on time. Athletes refer to the automatic qualifiers as the “big Qs” and the time qualifiers as the “little qs,” for the way they show up in race results.
But repechage is totally different. It gives everyone a second chance, no matter how far out of contention they might be. It also protects the medal favorites, in case they fall or have an uncharacteristic off day in the first round. (A member of the World Athletics Published: Aug 03, 2024 12:51 PM EDT Runner’s World about the rationale for repechage, but didn’t, despite several follow-ups from Runner’s World.)
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Wilson, who was disappointed not to qualify automatically after her first-round race, tried to put a brave face on it.
“I was hoping I wasn’t going to have to run it,” she said of repechage. “But I mean, it was like a cool thing they’re implementing now and kind of that safety net for if today doesn’t go as planned. So I’m just going to try to keep an open mind and give it my all tomorrow and see what I can do.”
Wilson, 28, is popular in the U.S. for her positive demeanor. She made a major move last year from Atlanta to Indianapolis to follow her coaches, Amy and Andrew Begley, who had left the Atlanta Track Club and were starting their own club, the Heartland Track Club, in the Midwest. Wilson’s faith paid off: She scored a Nike sponsorship, made her first Olympic team in June, and she ran a PR of 1:57.52 at the London Diamond League meet last month.
Wilson stepped off the track at about 8:32 p.m. on Friday night, and she had to be back at 11:20 a.m. the next day for her repechage race. Distance runners at her level rarely race in the morning.
In the repechage round of the 800 meters, suddenly the little qs were back. The top runner in each of four heats advanced, plus the next two fastest by time.
Wilson, in lane 1, went out fast, splitting 57.3 seconds for the first 400. She looked to be in control until about 150 meters left to go, when two runners went by her. Wilson finished third in the second heat in 1:59.73. Then she had to wait trackside for the next two heats to see if she’d advance on time.
Unfortunately for her, the fourth heat was fast. The second-place finisher in that heat, Vivian Kiprotich of Kenya, ran 1:59.31. Wilson was the first runner out. Her Olympics are over.
Speaking to reporters after the race, she openly cried.
“After I didn’t make it through yesterday, I had to quickly just try to have a short memory and turn the page and give myself a clean slate for today,” she said.
“I don’t think I raced my race yesterday. But I did that today. That’s all I could ask for. It wasn’t enough, so I can at least hold my head high that I did what I had to do to try to advance.”
Repechage is a new wrinkle in track and field for this, Nia Akins and Juliette Whittaker, advanced to the semifinals by finishing top 3 in their heats. (Akins was second, Whittaker was third, by a mere 0.003 seconds.) Three American men in the 1500 meters advanced automatically yesterday, and they all said they were glad to avoid the extra race.
As the Olympic races continue, it will be interesting to see if anyone who goes through repechage can make it to a final—or even win a medal.
Through her tears, Wilson tried to see the positive in her Olympic experience. Just making it through the ultra-competitive U.S. Olympic Trials to earn a spot on Team USA was a victory.
“To even be here is my greatest accomplishment to date,” she said. “So I’m really proud of myself. And honestly, being a U.S. athlete, we kind of already had to do all this, so I think the hardest part for a lot of people from our country is having to get back up for this. And obviously, this one is even bigger. I think for being my first one, I learned that.”
Heartbreak for 800-Meter Runner Allie Wilson, the First American to Face Repechage Rounds is a writer and editor living in Eugene, Oregon, and her stories about the sport, its trends, and fascinating individuals have appeared in Runner’s World Running in the Cold, Run Your Butt Off! and Walk Your Butt Off!
