Courtney Frerichs On Her Bold Olympics Silver Medal Run in Tokyo, Breaking 9 Minutes At Pre Classic & Her Mindset Work To 'Belong' Among The Best

"That's honestly been the biggest change I made this year: Just mentally being so much more prepared, so much happier and just felt ready with myself. I wasn't really focused on what anyone else was doing. I knew I was ready. I think there were a few big things we worked on. I have such a perfectionist nature. It was super innate probably and then I grew up in a sport that just sort of cultivated that in gymnastics. The whole premise of the sport is perfection. We really tackled that. We realized it wasn't just in terms of running that trait was coming out. It's probably been my whole life. Whenever I get into a scenario, especially in training, where someone is pushing the pace or it's playing out differently than I think it should be, what tools do I have or what can I do to handle that vs. going into a panic mode – which is what was starting to happen pretty frequently."

Olympic and world championship steeplechase silver medalist Courtney Frerichs re-joins the show. The last time she was on was in 2018 after she broke the American record in 9:00.85 at the Monaco Diamond League. This was recorded in August just after she became the first American woman to run under nine minutes in the steeplechase.

In 2019, she had what she believes to be a disappointing season that ended with a sixth-place finish at the World Championships just two years after taking silver behind Emma Coburn.

When the pandemic wiped away the 2020 outdoor season, she didn’t do a steeplechase workout at all. She took a break from training for the event and then had an injury in December. You’ll learn more about that and also how the two steeplechase races before the Olympic Trials set the blueprint for one of the best performances by an American at the Tokyo Olympics.

In Japan, she took the lead after a kilometer into the race and tried holding on but was passed in the final lap by Uganda’s Peruth Chemutai. Frerichs ended up with silver, which is the best performance by a female steeplechase at the Games since the event was added in 2008. You’ll be put in her shoes for that race and hear about Shalane Flanagan’s text message to her before the race + much more.

At the Pre Classic just a few weeks later, she lowered her American record to 8:57.77 and then took third at the Diamond League final in Zurich after we recorded.

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