Oregon22 highlights from Wednesday: Frerichs turns out season best, no medal, in steeplechase

The last 12 months have been a roller coaster for Courtney Frerichs.

The women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase specialist won a silver medal for Team USA at the Tokyo Olympics last August, then mourned the death of her college coach in December and was diagnosed with Celiac disease in the spring.

Needless to say, her 2022 season got off to a rocky start.

But the American record-holder who lives in Portland and trains with the Bowerman Track Club, came into the World Athletics Championships feeling as good as she has all season.

Thus the smile and positivity when discussing her sixth-place finish Wednesday night in a season-best 9:10.59.

That was far out of medal contention, as Kazakhstan’s Norah Jeruto won gold with a meet-record 8:53.02, Ethiopia’s Werkuha Getachew won silver with a national record 8:54.61 and Ethiopia’s Mekides Abebe won bronze in a personal record 8:56.08.

“I wanted to go with it in the beginning and I did that first lap,” Frerichs said. “I think the slow start to my season probably caught to me in that first half.  I’m proud of the effort. … I just wish I could’ve been a little closer to the podium, but you know, all three women ran faster than I ever have, so props to them.”

Back in eighth place was American Emma Coburn, whose aggressive push to stay with the leaders through the first 2,000 meters caught with her late as she crossed in 9:16.49.

“That sucks, but it’s racing and not everyone gets their dream outcome at the end of the day,” said Coburn, the world champion in London in 2017 who was disqualified in the final at the Tokyo Olympics last summer.

“I just have to analyze what I did wrong in training and try and remedy it,” Coburn said. “I thought even worst-case scenario if I got out over my head I’d finish somewhere under 9:10 still, so that sucks to blow up. I wanted more for myself but definitely a better outcome than Tokyo last year. A step in the right direction but definitely not where I see myself in the world.”

For Frerichs, she can take solace in the fact that she wasn’t the only 2020 Olympic medalist to leave the world championships empty handed.

Gold medalist Peruth Chemutai of Uganda finished 11th in 9:21.93 on Wednesday.

“I feel like myself, I feel good,” Frerichs said. “There’s a lot more to look forward to still in the season.”

That includes a trip to Monaco in three weeks for a Diamond League meet.

“That’s a pretty special one for me,” she said. “Actually four years ago today was where I first broke the American record at Monaco so I’m excited to go back there and hopefully take that on again.”

— Chris Hansen

Saturday's women's 5,000 final will feature three Americans

No American has ever medaled in the women's 5,000 at the world championships, but Wednesday's semifinals performance at Hayward Field provided a small glimpse of a possible change.

While temperatures rose into the mid-90s by the start of Heat 1, American Karissa Schweizer managed to qualify for the final by securing the fifth and final spot with a season-best time of 14:53.69.

Although more than halfway through the race, Schweizer maintained steady at the front of the pack before taking over the lead momentarily.

"I just tried to remain confident," Schweizer said. "I know my skills, and I definitely felt a longer kick so I kind of engaged that instead of going full board. The board looked really nice, but I was just really happy once I secured the spot."

Fellow American Emily Infeld also qualified for the final at the sixth spot with a season-best time of 15:00.98.

A similar finish was also witnessed in Heat 2 with American Elise Cranny securing her way into the final with a fifth place finish of 14:53.20.

"The biggest thing sometimes is obviously being hydrated going in," Cranny said on combating the heat. "But the biggest thing I think is mental. Jerry (Schumacher) told us it might be a slower tactical race or it might be a 15 flat or faster but he said 'that might feel like a 14:30 race' so you kind of have to prepare yourself."

Schweizer and Cranny, who both run professionally for Bowerman Track Club in Portland, were also competing against Germany's Konstanze Klosterhalfen, who trains with the Union Athletics Club in Portland but did not qualify for the final.

Saturday's 5,000 final will feature three American women for the first time since the 2017 world championships in London.

"I couldn't see the end of the race but I heard them in the loud speaker say that Emily got in on time," Cranny said. "I'm super happy especially because she used to be on the (professional) team and I feel like we are all really good teammates still so it's amazing."

About six hours before competition, former Oregon star Jessica Hull of Australia, who trains with the Union Athletics Club in Portland, pulled out of the race after testing positive for COVID-19.

"COVID caught up to me and I'm heartbroken to have to scratch the 5km and throw away another 12.5 laps of Hayward Field," Hull said in an Instagram post. "But this one's out of my hands. It stings a lot. For now I'm going to be a fan of track and field from my couch in Portland and recover ahead of the rest of the European season."

-Edith Noriega, sports reporter for the Statesman Journal

Nagging injury holds back Brazier in 800 prelims

Three years ago, Donavan Brazier was the best 800-meter runner in the world.

Now his season is ending early for the second year in row just as the schedule hits its peak.

Brazier, hobbled by a nagging foot injury, faded down the home stretch in his preliminary heat Wednesday at the World Athletics Championships and didn’t qualify for the semifinals.

He finished sixth in his heat and 26th overall in 1:46.26, significantly slower than his American record of 1:42.34, which he set in Doha, Qatar, en route to the 2019 world title.

It was a performance reminiscent of his last-place finish in the Olympic Trials final last summer, a race he ran with a fractured tibia.

“It’s been two years since I looked halfway decent,” said Brazier, 25, a member of the Portland-based Union Athletics Club. “My expectations were very high, maybe to an arrogant sort of level. I didn’t expect to go out there and do that, but I did.”

Brazier said he will have surgery next week in Colorado to deal with a Haglund’s deformity on his heel. It’s a procedure he could’ve had after the USATF Outdoor Championships in June but as the defending champion, he had an automatic qualifier for the world championships and he wanted to try and compete.

“I didn’t want to go out like this coming off last year,” Brazier said. “I though that I could do enough with some cross training and limited miles and obviously that was pretty ignorant to think because these guys out here are world-class athletes.”

Brazier said he actually thought he ran smart race on Wednesday.

When asked what he could’ve done differently, he answered, “That’s the scary part — nothing. I was on the rail the entire time, I was able to hug the shoulder of (heat winner) Peter Bol … so just a lack of fitness, a lack of confidence.”

Brazier sounded confident next week's surgery would be a minor setback, but he also acknowledged that he'd like nothing more than to change the current arc of his career.

“It makes me feel like an injury-prone athlete having surgery after surgery,” he said. “We keep saying, ‘Oh, once I do this I’ll be good, or once I do this I’ll be good,’ but I haven’t been good for three years and that’s a real bad reality check for me. I don’t want to be that one-and-done runner, I want to be the United State’s runner, I want to be the Allyson Felix, the Dalilah Muhammad, all the legendary athletes, the Galen Rupp, and I’m doing a poor job of that right now.”

-Chris Hansen

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Track & field world championships Oregon22 Wednesday highlights