Maia Ramsden broke her own New Zealand record today but still couldn’t make the women’s 1500m final.
Ramsden, 23, found herself in the slower of the two semi-finals, but spent most of the race well back. When the pace went on in the last lap, she moved through the field, as she’d done in her heat.
Showing good pace, she passed several runners and with 60 metres to go, briefly got into the crucial sixth place (with six going through to the final). But she tied up and slipped back to 8th over the final few metres.
Ramsden ran 4min 02.20s and missed a top six spot by 0.30s. Kenyan Faith Kipyegon finished extremely fast and won the semi-final in 3min 58.64s.
“I’m a bit sad,” she said later. “I got close and that makes it sting a little more. But it fuels the fire.”
Ramsden said she was still learning how to race a 1500m. “I need to get stronger. I sat near the back – that was the strategy. I made the move forward when I saw the pace go on, and I’m proud of that.
“But my legs turned to jelly over the last 60 metres and the girls came blazing past me. I didn’t even have time to register and couldn’t physically respond anyway.
“That’s the way it goes. I’ll be back.”
Ramsden said lining up alongside Olympic and world champions felt surreal. “Some of the big names are in their third Olympics. I remember asking my parents if I could miss school so I could watch them run in the Olympics. Then there I was lining up with them!”