3 Mainers fail to qualify for Olympics, one yet to compete in trials

Three Mainers who qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials in Oregon beginning last Friday, with dreams of representing their country at the 2024 Paris Olympics, are now out of the running. Another Maine resident will compete later this week.

Rachel Smith (formerly Schneider), 32, of Sanford advanced to the final round of the 5,000-meter trials. She was ultimately 35 seconds shy of qualifying for Paris, placing ninth overall with a time of 15:22.16 on Monday.

Smith’s 5K personal record is 14:52.04, and she previously competed in the 5K race at the 2021 Tokyo Summer Olympics.

Victoria Bossong, 21, of Cumberland and Hannah Steelman, 25, of Orono were bounced in the first round of the Olympic Trials on Friday.

Bossong was 2.45 seconds short of advancing to the second round of the 800-meter trials, clocking in at 2:04.99. Her personal best for the 800-meter race is 2:00.92.

Steelman was 17 seconds away from advancing to the second and final round of the 5,000-meter trials, finishing with a time of 16:28.53. She ran in the same heat as Smith, who finished in 16:06.92 on Friday. Steelman’s personal best for the 5K is 15:19.69.

The final Mainer represented this week is 27-year-old Isaiah Harris of Lewiston, who will be competing in the 800-meter U.S. Olympic Trials for the second time in his career. The first round of the men’s 800-meter trials will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday.