Florida's Parker Valby earns silver in 10k at US Olympic Trials

After coming up short in the Olympic Trials 5k event, Florida Gators distance runner Parker Valby placed second in the women’s 10,000-meter race, likely securing her a spot on the Olympic Team.

“I was a lot more calm (for this race),” Valby said. “I was super, super nervous for the 5k. If you took my heart rate before that race it was probably in the 500s. But before this race, I was just having fun with it and focusing on my teammates.”

Weini Kelati, who defected from Eritrea at 17, finished first with a time of 31:41.07. Karissa Schweizer placed third by fractions of a second behind Valby (31:31.56). All three should represent the United States at the Paris Olympics.

There is a complication, though.

Valby and Schweizer have not met the Olympic qualifying standard of 30:40. which means they’ll have to qualify through World Athletics rankings. They’ll have to wait until July 7 to find out, but there is a strong chance both make the team.

Runners World does a good job showing their math, but the gist of it is that Valby likely placed high enough to gain the points she needs to qualify.

Valby took the lead with five laps to go in the race. After setting the pace for most of the 5k event and then getting passed by, Valby decided to conserve her energy and wait to push things at the end. Her coach gave her the signal to push things to 71 seconds per lap, creating some separation between the three medalists and the rest of the field.

Schweizer made the first push to overtake Valby, followed by a somewhat decisive move from Kelati with 200 meters left to go.

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