Whittni Morgan On Getting The Call To Represent Team USA In The 5000m At The Paris Olympics After Finishing 5th At The U.S. Olympic Trials

Whittni Morgan had a little bit of delayed gratification as she was named to the U.S. Olympic team in the 5000m about a week after the Trials. So how did it happen?

Elle St. Pierre won the 5000m and finished third in the 1500m but has decided to only run the 1500m at the Paris Olympics. This elevated Parker Valby into that final spot for the 5000m after her fourth place finish in the Olympic Trials final.

Valby also finished second in the 10,000m. After a few days of consideration and conversation with her coaches Will Palmer and Samantha Palmer, she decided to just run the 10,000 meters at the Paris Olympics. She qualified for that event based off her World Ranking.

This meant that Whittni Morgan, who finished fifth in the 5000m final, got the final spot for Paris.

In this episode, we chat about what it was like to get that call. Plus, we talk through just how incredible her comeback has been in the past seven months. She underwent patellar tendon surgery in December and did not run on the ground until early February. She ran her season’s best of 15:06 in the Olympic Trials final. Plus, we chat about what it’s been like to be on this journey with coach Diljeet Taylor for the past few years.

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