Laura qualifys for the Womens Olympic 1500mt Final

​Running her third fastest time of the year, and the tenth in her lifetime,
Laura Weightman qualified for her second Olympic Women’s 1500m Final,
in the cauldron of Rio’s Olympic Stadium, in the early hours of Monday morning (15th August).

She posted a finishing time of 4m05.28s to finish fifth in the first of her two heat Semi Final,
and was ninth fastest of the twelve who have made the Final,
which will be run at the early hour of 2.30am on Wednesday 17th August.

Employing totally different tactics from her Round One heat on Saturday Morning,
where she had finished seventh, and had qualified for the Semi’s as a fastest loser,
Weightman went to the front of the field as they went through the first 300m,
which was to prove a very positive move as the race progressed,
and was always prominent leading to the bell.

With 200m remaining Weightman was in sixth place, but drew on all of her
left resources to chase the vital fifth place, and although she was pressured
all of the way to the finish line, she managed to hold on for qualification,
but not without sustaining a horrifying spike injury to her right shin,
which she clearly showed to BBC Interviewer Phil Jones
before departing for much needed medical attention.

During interview, a clearly emotionally charged, and very much in pain Weightman,
said how delighted she was in reaching another Olympic Final,
and was pleased to have been able to run her race to her plan,
and not to the desire of fellow competitors, and was relieved that it had worked out.

Meanwhile Laura’s fellow GB rival Laura Muir also qualified,
finishing third in the marginally faster second heat,
posting a finishing time of 4m04.16s,
which was fourth fastest overall going into the Final.

Laura’s Semi Final was won by Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon,
who remains one of the favourites to watch, along with Genzebe Dibaba,
who was the winner of Muir’s Semi Final.

So it’s all down to the early hour of 2.30am on Wednesday 17th August
to see Laura Weightman’s next action, when we hope she can get close to medals. 

Well done Laura

Results