O’Sullivan Runs Olympic Standard At Worlds
August 19, 2023 | Track & Field
SEATTLE – Back in May, Sophie O'Sullivan stunned with a four-second PR of 4:08.06 to shatter the Washington 1,500-meters School Record. Three months later, running at her first World Championships for Ireland, O'Sullivan ran an astonishing six seconds faster than her first record-breaking time, going 4:02.15 in the preliminary heats today in Budapest. It would still not be quite enough to advance the Husky junior into the semis, but it moved O'Sullivan to No. 3 in NCAA history on the all-dates list, No. 5 in Irish history, and it was under the Olympic Standard needed for the 2024 Olympic Games.
Four Huskies past and present raced in the 1,500-meters today on the first day of the World Championships. On the men's side, NCAA and USA runner-up Joe Waskom made his senior U.S. National Team debut but got caught on the rail in a slow heat and was unable to move on. Kieran Lumb, the Canadian National Champion in his Worlds debut, also just missed the semis, but former All-American Sam Tanner, in his second Worlds for New Zealand, did get an auto-advancing spot today.
O'Sullivan placed eighth in her heat with the top-six getting spots in the semis. Her eighth-place time was faster than the winning time of the other three sections, as she debuted on the World Championships stage where her mother, Sonia, had gold medal success in the 5,000-meters for Ireland.
"I think that's all I could do," said O'Sullivan. "I put myself in a spot in the last 100 where I could have been in the top six and it just wasn't in my favour today, but that's as fast as I could have run. It's the best shot I could have given myself. I'll just have to come back another time."
The only collegiates to run faster than O'Sullivan's 4:02.15 at any point in the calendar year are former Colorado runner and World Championship gold medalist Jenny Simpson, and former Oregon runner and current Australian World Championship competitor Jessica Hull.
Waskom's heat, the second of four, was the only one to turn tactical, and that made for a free-for-all down the home stretch. The difference between first-place in 3:46.77 and Waskom in eighth-place in 3:47.26 was a scant 0.49 seconds. Tanner was able to secure fourth in the heat in 3:46.93 to move on. In heat three, like Waskom, Kieran Lumb was two spots shy of the semis, running a 3:36.66.
Sunday, Tanner will be the lone Husky in action in the 1,500m semis. Monday will see Hana Moll compete in pole vault qualifying and Gianna Woodruff run the first round of the 400m hurdles.
UW at the World Athletics Championships (All times Pacific time)
August 19
4:15am – Sophie O'Sullivan – 1500m Heats
10:02am – Kieran Lumb, Sam Tanner, Joe Waskom – 1500m Heats
August 20
8:30am – Sam Tanner – 1500m Semifinals
August 21
9:40am – Hana Moll – Pole Vault Qualification
9:50am – Gianna Woodruff – 400m Hurdles Heats
August 22
11:25am – Gianna Woodruff – 400m Hurdles Semifinals
August 23
2:10am – Amy-Eloise Markovc – 5000m Heats
10:30am – Hana Moll – Pole Vault Final
12:15pm – Sam Tanner – 1500m Final
August 24
10:00am – Brian Fay – 5000m Heats
12:50pm – Gianna Woodruff – 400m Hurdles Final
August 25
10:00pm – Izzi Batt-Doyle, Lindsay Flanagan – Marathon
August 26
11:50am – Amy-Eloise Markovc – 5000m Final
August 27
11:20am – Brian Fay – 5000m Final
Four Huskies past and present raced in the 1,500-meters today on the first day of the World Championships. On the men's side, NCAA and USA runner-up Joe Waskom made his senior U.S. National Team debut but got caught on the rail in a slow heat and was unable to move on. Kieran Lumb, the Canadian National Champion in his Worlds debut, also just missed the semis, but former All-American Sam Tanner, in his second Worlds for New Zealand, did get an auto-advancing spot today.
O'Sullivan placed eighth in her heat with the top-six getting spots in the semis. Her eighth-place time was faster than the winning time of the other three sections, as she debuted on the World Championships stage where her mother, Sonia, had gold medal success in the 5,000-meters for Ireland.
??? "That's as fast as I could've run, it's the best shot I could've given myself."
— Athletics Ireland (@irishathletics) August 19, 2023
Sophie O'Sullivan speaks after clocking a HUGE personal best in the heats of the Women's 1500m at the World Championships.
Unfortunately not good enough to advance to the semi-finals but moves… pic.twitter.com/Ci0C8gZ2kU
"I think that's all I could do," said O'Sullivan. "I put myself in a spot in the last 100 where I could have been in the top six and it just wasn't in my favour today, but that's as fast as I could have run. It's the best shot I could have given myself. I'll just have to come back another time."
The only collegiates to run faster than O'Sullivan's 4:02.15 at any point in the calendar year are former Colorado runner and World Championship gold medalist Jenny Simpson, and former Oregon runner and current Australian World Championship competitor Jessica Hull.
Waskom's heat, the second of four, was the only one to turn tactical, and that made for a free-for-all down the home stretch. The difference between first-place in 3:46.77 and Waskom in eighth-place in 3:47.26 was a scant 0.49 seconds. Tanner was able to secure fourth in the heat in 3:46.93 to move on. In heat three, like Waskom, Kieran Lumb was two spots shy of the semis, running a 3:36.66.
Sunday, Tanner will be the lone Husky in action in the 1,500m semis. Monday will see Hana Moll compete in pole vault qualifying and Gianna Woodruff run the first round of the 400m hurdles.
UW at the World Athletics Championships (All times Pacific time)
August 19
4:15am – Sophie O'Sullivan – 1500m Heats
10:02am – Kieran Lumb, Sam Tanner, Joe Waskom – 1500m Heats
August 20
8:30am – Sam Tanner – 1500m Semifinals
August 21
9:40am – Hana Moll – Pole Vault Qualification
9:50am – Gianna Woodruff – 400m Hurdles Heats
August 22
11:25am – Gianna Woodruff – 400m Hurdles Semifinals
August 23
2:10am – Amy-Eloise Markovc – 5000m Heats
10:30am – Hana Moll – Pole Vault Final
12:15pm – Sam Tanner – 1500m Final
August 24
10:00am – Brian Fay – 5000m Heats
12:50pm – Gianna Woodruff – 400m Hurdles Final
August 25
10:00pm – Izzi Batt-Doyle, Lindsay Flanagan – Marathon
August 26
11:50am – Amy-Eloise Markovc – 5000m Final
August 27
11:20am – Brian Fay – 5000m Final
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