The Organizing Committee for the Beijing Olympic Games has posted the official start times and line-ups for the Women's 1,500m, the race in which Haddonfield's Erin Donohue will compete.
Erin will compete in Heat 2 against ten other runners. That race is scheduled to start at 7:09am (Haddonfield time) on Thursday (August 21).
The first three finishers in each of the three heats will advance to the final, along with the next three fastest, for a total of 12 finalists.
Erin's teammate Christin Wurth-Thomas will run in Heat 1 at 7am; her training partner Shannon Rowbury will run in Heat 3 at 7:18am.
Erin will face tough competition. All of the other runners in Heat 2 have posted faster times in 2008 than her Season Best (4:07:65), ranging from 4:00:44 by Gelete Burka of Ethiopia to 4:07:00 by Susan Scott of Great Britain.
But the Track & Field program at these Olympics has produced a number of unexpected results, and the final format of the race (three heats with 11 runners and a final with 12) will suit Erin better than the one that was under consideration several days ago (two heats of up to 18).
Neither the heats nor the final – Saturday, August 23 at 7:50am (Haddonfield time) – will be televised live by NBC.
Haddonfield Online will post the result of Erin's race as soon as it is available, probably between 7:15am and 7:30am on Thursday (August 21).
The World Record for the Women's 1,500m – 3:50.46 – held by Yunxia Qu of China, has stood since 1993. The Olympic Record – 3:53.96 – was set by Paula Ivan of Romania in Seoul in 1988.
The Personal Best time for all competitors in this race is 3:56:18, set by Maryam Yusuf Jamal of Bahrain in 2006. Erin ran her Personal Best – 4:05:55 – in 2007.
Click to link to Erin's profile on NBC's Olympics site.
For other stories about Erin Donohue on Haddonfield Online, including her blogs from Beijing and links to other sites and photographs, click on the "News & Archives" menu bar and slide to "People in the News."
