The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“I couldn’t have asked for a better outcome. I’m so happy!”
By Than Acuff
Home grown athlete Emma Coburn hit one of the biggest goals of her life so far on Monday, August 15 when she won the bronze medal in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the summer Olympics games in Rio. She is the first American woman to win a medal in the event and also broke her own American record running it in a time of 9:07.63. It’s an amazing accomplishment given how she ended up running the steeplechase in the first place.
Emma was cruising along as a standout three-sport high school athlete at the Crested Butte Community School from 2004-2008. She racked up some state track and field and cross-country titles, not to mention playing basketball on the girls’ basketball team that finished fourth in the state her senior year.
In addition to her workouts with CBCS coaches Bill Quiggle, Charlotte Camp and Sarah Jones, Emma was committed to taking her running talents to the next level, getting time in the off-season with local coach Trent Sanderson who now heads up Team Prep USA in Crested Butte.
When she was a junior in high school, Emma headed to Albuquerque, New Mexico to compete in a meet and it was there that her steeplechase career was born.
“Bill (Emma’s father) took her to Albuquerque for a regional high school meet when she was a junior at CBCS,” explains her mom, Annie Coburn. “She was going to run the 800, but Bill didn’t want to drive that far for just one race. He looked at the schedule and saw there was a steeple that would work. She had never seen it run and didn’t even know how many laps it was. She won that meet and went to Nike Nationals in South Carolina and ran it again and finished fourth in the country. That’s where the college coaches first noticed her. Trent Sanderson was the one who encouraged us to enter her in the next level of high school meets.”
The rest is history as she went on to run for the University of Colorado earning National titles in the steeplechase, placed ninth at the Olympics in London in 2012, signed as a professional athlete with New Balance, set the American record this past year and then, nine years after her first steeplechase race, stepped onto the Olympic podium.
Emma has been on a whirlwind media tour since winning the bronze medal but, as always, took time from her celebration and interviews to respond from Rio via email to the Sports Barrel.
How was the build up to the race?
The build up for my race was good. Everything in training was going smoothly. I knew I was fit coming here but executing the race plan is so much harder than on paper.
Were you happy with your prelim?
I was very happy my prelim but was surprised with how fast I had to run to narrow the field down to the three athlete automatic qualifying spots. Usually it doesn’t take 9:18 to get 2nd place in a prelim, usually closer to 9:25.
More nerves or less nerves (or no nerves) this time around going into the Olympic finals?
I had more nerves for this Olympics simply because I had big goals coming here. Last Olympics, I was going trying to make the final. This time around, I was seeking out a medal. It’s just a little bit more pressure.
What was the plan heading into the finals?
The plan heading into the finals was to try and make the race fast. I had the third fastest time coming in and knew I had the best chance at the podium if the race was fast. I didn’t want to leave it to a kick.
Were you comfortable in front at the start of the race?
I am always comfortable leading races but was relieved when Jebet took the lead and surged. I knew I could lead but it is much harder than sitting behind the leader. I was happy when she took over and made the pace even faster than I had planned.
Was there any panic on your part when the three women built a gap on you? Did you think your medal hopes were slipping away?
I knew when Jebet took over that she would surge and run pretty quickly. I knew I just had to stay patient and that eventually the woman in 3rd would fade. Her personal best was slower than mine coming in so hoped that she would fade after such an aggressive middle kilometer.
When did you realize you could reel in the third place woman?
It wasn’t until 2 laps to go (100m before I passed her) that I was really confident that I could get her.
When did you set your sights on the second place woman?
At the bell, 400m to go, I looked back and saw that 4th was pretty far behind me. At that point my focus shifted from trying to maintain 3rd to trying to get 2nd. I think I waited a little too long to make my attack to 2nd because once I caught her with 250m to go, she had another gear and I didn’t. Maybe, had I caught her 100m earlier, I could have passed her more definitively. By the time I caught her, I was so tired I couldn’t do much.
Would you have done anything different in the race?
I’m very proud of my race. Maybe, something could have changed in the last lap to catch 2nd, but when running at the limit, it’s hard to really make changes. I’m so pleased with how things played out.
Was that the hardest race of your career?
It was a very tough race, but I did feel a different energy than in other races. I felt a like I had good momentum the whole time, good confidence. I felt great out there. It was so hard, but something about the energy in the stadium made me not feel the pain until I was done. At the end, I couldn’t go faster, I was at my limit, but it wasn’t painful until after I finished.
How does it feel grabbing some Olympic hardware and setting a new American record?
I couldn’t have asked for a better outcome. I’m so happy!
What’s the short term plan? Tokyo in 2020?
I definitely plan to train for Tokyo 2020. In the meantime I have a few races to finish up this year, then World Championships next year and in 2019. Lots of big things between now and 2020, but I do hope to be there in Tokyo!!
“It feels pretty darn great,” adds Annie. “We are thrilled. The feeling going in this year was definitely one of expectation. Expecting a medal chance. Not knowing if she will get that chance. Not knowing how the race will play out. Not wanting to ‘jinx’ it. Not wanting to say it out loud: she’s going medal! But we were still hopeful and expecting her to get one.”
Annie chalks Emma’s success up to a number of things, least of which includes the Crested Butte community.
“I credit her success to natural talent, durability, family and friends, discipline, detail, hard work, courage, humor and growing up in Crested Butte,” says Annie. “The best place to grow up.”
