Val Constien tops U.S. steeplechase list with fifth-place finish at Prefontaine Classic
The Battle Mountain alumna set a four-second personal best competing in the star-studded Diamond League field
Jeff Cohen/Courtesy photo
In just her second steeplechase since tearing her ACL a year ago, Val Constien finished as the top American at the Prefontaine Classic on Saturday in Eugene, Oregon. The former Battle Mountain runner finished fifth overall in the Diamond League event, covering the 3,000-meter distance in 9 minutes, 14.29 seconds. The time — the fastest by an American woman this year — was four seconds quicker than her previous personal best of 9:18.34, which she ran to make her first Olympic team in 2021.
Defending Olympic champion Peruth Chemutai (8:55.09) outsprinted world-record holder Beatrice Chepkoech (8:56.51) to top the star-studded international field.
“It’s so rewarding,” Constien told reporters at Hayward Field. “Literally a year and two days ago I was on an operating table getting surgery on both knees.” Last May, Dr. Matthew Provencher conducted an ACL surgery at The Steadman Clinic on Constien’s right leg, using a graft from the left.
“This time last year I was laying in bed in a ton of pain and just thinking about the long road ahead,” Constien continued. “Even to be invited to Pre — to be given a chance to race, and then to be able to race the way that I did, I’m just so proud of myself.”
Appearing on a podcast in the days leading up to Saturday’s race, Constien said she viewed the Prefontaine Classic as a potential preview of the Olympic Trials, where the top three finishers earn a trip to the Paris Olympics. After battling with Courtney Wayment (9:14.48), Gabrielle Jennings (9:18.03) and Kaylee Mitchell (9:21.00), who finished sixth, seventh, and eighth, respectively, Constien said “I think I learned my intuitions were right.”
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Wayment and Jennings gapped Constien in the early-goings of Saturday’s race.
“I got a little boxed in and pushed around a little bit,” Constien said. “I had to put in a pretty big surge on the last lap.”
Constien “had a little extra juice at the end” to sneak past Wayment in the homestretch.
“If this is any indicator for the trials, I think this is definitely something you’d want to tune in to see.”
Recent injuries to Emma Coburn and Courtney Frerichs — the other two American steeplechasers who competed in Tokyo in 2021 — have increased Constien’s odds at making another Olympic squad. Even though she defeated three of her chief competitors on Saturday, the 28-year-old knows the only thing that matters is who finishes first on June 27, the day of the Olympic Trials women’s steeplechase finals.
“Well, the job’s not done yet, right?” Constien answered when asked what it meant to finish as the top American in the final big test before the trials. “I think it’s going to be harder than ever (to make the team). I had the benefit of being under the radar for a long time, but now obviously there’s probably a target on my back.”
The Nike athlete said she thinks the winning time next month in Eugene will likely be under 9:10.
“I think if people are going to want to beat me, they’re going to have to run the kick out of me,” Constien said. “I think it’s going to be a killer race at the trials and may the best woman win.”
