Olympic 5000m Heats (Featuring Sheila Reid)

The races are tomorrow, starting at 5:55 AM ET. 

All starters are below, their names link to their personal bests at various distances. My thoughts are below the start lists.

5000 Metres - W   Heats

Qual. rule: first 5 of each heat (Q) plus the 5 fastest times (q) qualified.

Heat 1

Tuesday 07 August 2012 - 10:55

Order	Bib	Athlete	Country	SB 2012	PB
1	2510	Sandra López	MEX	15:37.00	15:28.71
2	2250	Kayoko Fukushi	JPN	15:18.46	14:53.22
3	2333	Viola Jelagat Kibiwot	KEN	14:39.53	14:34.86
4	2602	Karoline Bjerkeli Grøvdal	NOR	15:28.32	15:25.40
5	2100	Fionnuala Britton	IRL	15:15.69	15:15.69
6	2859	Olga Golovkina	RUS	15:11.20	15:11.20
7	1870	Barbara Parker	GBR	15:14.26	15:14.26
8	1256	Tejitu Daba	BRN	15:48.37	15:14.62
9	2475	Nadia Noujani	MAR	15:16.50	15:16.50
10	1703	Meseret Defar	ETH	14:35.65	14:12.88
11	1084	Eloise Wellings	AUS	15:20.28	14:54.11
12	3281	Julie Culley	USA	15:13.77	15:13.77
13	2729	Sara Moreira	POR	15:08.33	14:54.71
14	1706	Tirunesh Dibaba	ETH	14:50.80	14:11.15
15	1654	Judith Plá	ESP	15:27.62	15:20.87
16	3168	Lyudmyla Kovalenko	UKR	15:10.28	15:10.28
17	2164	Silvia Weissteiner	ITA	15:18.04	15:02.65
18	3089	Dudu Karakaya	TUR	15:20.00	15:20.00

 

Heat 2

Tuesday 07 August 2012 - 11:19

Order	Bib	Athlete	Country	SB 2012	PB
1	1702	Gelete Burka	ETH	14:41.43	14:31.20
2	1849	Julia Bleasdale	GBR	15:10.06	15:10.06
3	2257	Hitomi Niiya	JPN	15:17.92	15:13.12
4	3297	Molly Huddle	USA	15:14.40	14:44.76
5	3279	Kim Conley	USA	15:19.79	15:19.79
6	2327	Vivian Jepkemoi Cheruiyot	KEN	14:35.62	14:20.87
7	2881	Yelena Nagovitsyna	RUS	15:13.77	15:13.77
8	1871	Joanne Pavey	GBR	15:09.53	14:39.96
9	2159	Elena Romagnolo	ITA	15:19.78	15:13.19
10	2761	Roxana Elisabeta Birca	ROU	15:13.40	15:13.40
11	2151	Nadia Ejjafini	ITA	15:16.54	15:16.54
12	1258	Shitaye Eshete	BRN	15:14.49	15:14.49
13	1097	Layes Abdullayeva	AZE	15:33.88	15:29.47
14	3017	Zakia Mrisho	TAN		14:43.87
15	2263	Mika Yoshikawa	JPN	15:33.48	15:28.44
16	1142	Almensh Belete	BEL	15:22.15	15:03.63
17	2336	Sally Jepkosgei Kipyego	KEN	14:43.11	14:30.42
18	1315	Sheila Reid	CAN	15:23.64	15:23.64

Some of my thoughts:

1. I was very relieved when I saw that Sheila Reid was in a different heat than Meseret Defar and defending champion/10000m champion Tirunesh Dibaba, but then I saw that she was in a heat with the other Ethiopian, and the two Kenyans that finished second and third in the 10K. All in all, the two heats look pretty evenly matched.
2. If it's a slower race, I have confidence, but if it's a fast race, it will be difficult. I'm hoping the race is either super fast or painfully slow, because if the race is faster than the first race, there's a better chance Sheila will advance on time.
3. I need to set my alarm clock.

Good luck tomorrow, Sheila. Get after it.