http://www.denverpost.com/london2012/ci_21265312/monuments-jenny-simpson-finishes-last-heat-1-500

Monument's finishes last in heat of 1,500-meter semis By John Meyer The Denver Post The Denver Post Posted: DenverPost.com

LONDON — A year ago Jenny Simpson ran what she called "the perfect race on the perfect day," winning a gold medal in the 1,500 meters at the world championships. Pretty much the opposite happened Wednesday night.

Simpson, a Monument resident and University of Colorado graduate, finished last in her heat in the 1,500 semifinals.

Her Olympics is over.

"I'm not sick. I'm not hurt. I'm not out of shape," Simpson said, breaking into tears. "I just had a shameful performance today, and I'm really sorry to all the people that care about me and work so hard with me."

The other two Americans in the race, Shannon Rowbury and , advanced.

"I have no excuse," Simpson said. "I'm in really good shape. The workouts indicate I'm in good shape. I'm ready to run. The one thing I could say, if I could give any tidbit to people following in my footsteps, it's don't let anyone talk to you about the final until you're in the final. It's so hard when you're a (world) medalist moving into the next year, especially when you have nothing like a crutch, like an injury or something to be like, 'If it doesn't go right, I can blame it on this.'

"I have nothing. I'm in great shape and I feel good. You just have to earn every single step, and I think I thought about the final before I had earned it."

In Monday's first round, Simpson tried to run from the back to avoid elbowing and jostling in the middle of the pack, and it nearly cost her. She had to kick with everything she had just to nail down the last spot in the semis. She let that affect her tactics Wednesday, and that might have been another mistake.

When she reached for her kick, it wasn't there.

"Two days ago, I just kind of felt, 'Well, I scared everyone, I cut it too close,' and I just tried to run really hard the whole way today," Simpson said. "It's just tough, because that takes the kick out of your legs.

"All that said, it shouldn't have (happened). I'm in good enough shape. I should have been able to kick today."

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Monument's Simpson fails to qualify for Olympic finals DAVID RAMSEY 2012-08-08 14:59:39

LONDON - Monument resident Jenny Simpson, a volunteer coach at Air Force Academy, will not race in the 1,500-meter Olympic finals after finishing last in her semifinal heat Wednesday.

Simpson had arrived in London as the 2011 world champion after a victory in South Korea, but she never raced close to her highest level. She struggled Monday to qualify for the semis.

“I’m disappointed only because I know I put in the work, and I know my coach knows I can do better than this," Simpson said, according to USA . "I have no excuse. I’m not hurt, I’m not out of shape. I did a really, really great workout two weeks ago, and it is shame on me for not finishing what I started here.”

She told the Denver Post: "The one thing I could say, if I could give any tidbit to people following in my footsteps, it’s that, don’t let anyone talk to you about the final until you’re in the final. .... You just have to earn every single step, and I think I thought about the final before I had earned it.”

Simpson ran the 1,500 in 3 minutes, 59.90 seconds in 2009 during her senior season at the University of Colorado. She ran 4:06.89 in Wednesday’s semis. She remained near the leaders, who ran in a tight pack until the hitting the straightaway before the start of the bell lap.

Simpson finished ninth in the steeplechase in the 2008 Olympics.

In June, Simpson said she believed her victory in South Korea would allow her to run with confidence in London. The win, she said, eased her burdens.

“I feel I’ve already reached the top,” Simpson said. “… And that gives me a little bit of freedom.”

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“It’s so hard when you’re a medalist Jenny Simpson moving in the next year, especially when you have nothing like a crutch, an injury or s finishes last in omething where you can, ‘Well, if it doesn’ t go right, I can blame it on this,’” said 1,500m semifinal Simpson, who now lives in Colorado Springs, Colo. heat “The last two races, I just ran really poorly. I think a lot of that is because you just have LONDON - No matter how desperately to earn every single step. And I think I’d Jenny Simpson searched through her race- thought about the final before I’d earned cluttered mind, the answer stubbornly it.” avoided detection. Simpson was far from alone among those Simpson, the 2011 world champion in ambushed by the briskness of the track’s 1,500-meter run, finished last in semifinals. her Olympic semifinal on Wednesday. Nicole Sifuentes, a former Big Ten runner at Moments after recording a time of 4 Michigan, finished one spot ahead of minutes, 6.89 seconds at the Olympic Simpson in the heat – in 4:06.33. Stadium, the woman who was born in Webster City and competed in college at “It was a really fast race today,” Sifuentes Colorado struggled to explain what had said. “I did everything I could - it just felt transpired. like I was sprinting from the first step.”

“I’m not sick, I’m not hurt, I’m not out of Simpson said the technical and mental shape,” said a dejected Simpson, who finished 22nd of 24 vying for spots in the Advertisement finals. “I just had a shameful performance today and I’m really sorry to the people that care about me and worked so hard with me.”

The pace of those competing increased dramatically from the time of Simpson’s world title.

Simpson’s time of 4:05.40 in 2011 would have been 15th fastest on Wednesday.

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aspects of the race swallowed up her attempt at a world-stage repeat.

“There’s way more components to racing than putting one foot in front of the other,” Simpson said. “I just didn’t have all of them in place today.

“I’m in better shape than I was last year at this time. I have no excuse. I just didn’t execute today.”

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