JUST A FEW MONTHS before the Olympic Trials, Val Constien had no intention of being on the steeplechase start line at Hayward Field, much less winning the race and booking her ticket to Paris.
Since making the team for the last Olympics, the 28-year-old Colorado grad has faced a series of setbacks. A plantar fasciitis issue compromised her ’22 campaign, and she finished 8th at the U.S. championships.
She rebounded for the ’23 indoor season, winning the USATF Indoor title in the 3000. That led to a new sponsorship deal and renewed confidence. Alas, the forward momentum came to a crashing halt at the Doha Diamond League when she tore her ACL on the second water jump.
Following surgery in late May, a long recovery period awaited, so Constien accepted that her shot at her second Olympic team seemed to have evaporated. But thanks to a very patient approach to rehab and training, she came through with an epic performance, leading the deepest race in U.S. history.
“I didn’t think I was gonna be here, to be perfectly honest,” she said in Eugene shortly after slashing 11 seconds off her PR to win in 9:03.22. “I was like, well, it’s a bummer that I’m going to miss 2024, but at least I’ll be healthy for 2025. So taking that pressure off and just really focusing on trying to be healthy and doing everything right was how I got to this point.”
She began running on the ground in September, did her first track workout in December and started going over hurdles in February. “I never pushed myself. I really just listened to my body, and I was extra picky, took it day by day, did my PT and it just came together at the right time,” Constien says. “I wasn’t rushing to get back into it. I was giving myself time and it all just came together well.”
She took her time getting back into racing. “In March I was still dealing with some weird aches and pains after steeplechase workouts,” she says. “Finally in April it all started to come together.”
On April 13 she won her section of the 1500 at the Bryan Clay Invitational in 4:12.27. Then on May 11 she ran her first steeple since Doha, winning at the Sound Running Track Fest in LA in 9:27.22 and qualifying for the Trials. That led to a spot in the Prefontaine Classic field on May 25, when she surprised herself with a…
CLICK HERE to Read the Full Original Article at Track & Field News…