Three-time Olympian Shannon Rowbury is 35. At this point in her career, who knows what the future holds?
It won’t include a trip to Tokyo for the Olympics this summer. The Tokyo Games were postponed yesterday for a year by the global coronavirus pandemic.
Undaunted, Rowbury is sheltering in place in San Francisco, continuing to train and hoping for the best.
She is a commuting member of the Nike-sponsored, Portland-based team of elite runners coached by Pete Julian. Julian’s group still expects to compete somewhere this summer.
“Whenever the races open up, I’ll try to race -- June, July, August, whatever it might be,” Rowbury said. “We’ll treat it kind of like an off-year summer, when there is no championships, then do the normal buildup to try to get ready for the Olympics. We’re assuming the Olympics will be next summer at around the same time. If that’s different, we’ll adjust.”
For Rowbury, it’s a complicated situation. Her daughter, Sienna, was born in June of 2018. She was injured last year. Her contract with Nike is up and the end of this year. She needs to show she is competitive at the world level.
“I’m hopeful I’ll have an opportunity to race this summer," she said. "I hope I can race well and show that even though I’m 35 and even though I have a child, my ability as an athlete hasn’t diminished and I deserve to have a contract, have an opportunity to toe the line at nationals, hopefully make that Olympic team and go after a medal.”
Rowbury said she is happy as a member of Julian’s group, an offshoot of the Nike Oregon Project, shuttered last October in the wake of NOP coach Alberto Salazar’s four-year ban for breaking doping rules.
None of the rules Salazar was found to have broken involved intentionally doping athletes. He is appealing the ban. No Oregon Project athletes have been charged with doping. None ever has tested positive.
Julian essentially had his own group of athletes under the Oregon Project’s umbrella. It is its own entity now, and includes a few members Julian has added since it broke away.
Rowbury has been working exclusively with Julian since the fall of 2016.
“This team Pete has created with him as leader has a really supportive vibe,” Rowbury said. “First and foremost, Pete has tried to bring on board athletes, men and women, with the right attitude who fit with who he is as a person -- humble, hard-working, down-to-earth, positive.”
In a perfect world, Rowbury said, she would like to transition to a coaching or administrative role with Julian’s group when she stops competing.
“I think Pete would agree that I’ve been able to be a supportive sounding board for him," she said, “to give that feedback as an athlete, a veteran, a woman.”
-- I caught up with a number of local Olympic track athletes yesterday, who shared their sorrow and perspective after the coronavirus forced postponement of the Olympics.
I love this from former UO sprinter English Gardner, speaking in support of the postponement:
“I’m part of the community. I’m a human being. I’m a sister. I’m a mother. I’m a girlfriend. I’m a godmother. As a whole world, we’re kind of going through it right now. It’s OK that the Games got postponed because this problem, this illness, this sickness is way bigger than Tokyo.”
OK, more links:
What’s next for U.S. record-holder Donavan Brazier, a member of Julian’s group. (Michigan Live)
U.S. Olympic track trials at Hayward Field in Eugene are postponed because of the coronavirus.
Postponement of the Olympics impacts the competition schedule for Hayward Field. (R-G)
Susan Hazzard of USA Track & Field tells Women’s Running, USATF will hold a U.S. Championships this year “if it’s possible.”
Arkansas women’s coach Lance Harter hopes there will a U.S. championships, and or other meets this summer.
Heartbroken Mariel Zagunis accepts the Olympics postponement. (Portland Tribune)
Desiree Linden, fourth-place finisher in the women’s competition at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, says the results of the trials should stand for 2021. (Yahoo)
Six big questions in the wake of the IOC decision to postpone the Olympics until 2021. (LetsRun.com)
World Athletics statement says it is working with Oregon21 on an alternative date for the 2021 World Outdoor Championships, which are scheduled for Hayward Field in Eugene. (World Athletics)
International track and swimming federations look at flexibility as they begin planning for 2021. (NBC)
Philip Hersh in Globetrotting: The IOC took an inglorious path to the right decision.
Jim Alexander of the Press-Enterprise: Why a delayed Olympics benefits the athletes.
Nancy Armour of USA Today: Postponing the Olympics is the right call, even if it doesn’t feel good to do it.
Christine Brennan of USA Today: The next Olympics will be worth the wait.
Rich Perelman of the Sports Examiner: Cue the dominoes, the collateral damage of postponing the Olympics begins.
Michael McCann of Sports Illustrated: The legal and business complications of postponing the Olympics.
Alan Abrahamson in 3 Wire Sports: First the postponement, now the reckoning.
Decathlete Mitch Modin explains in this vlog why he will continue to traub despite the Olympics postponement. Modin says: “Time only helps.”
Alexi Pappas will manage what she can control so that she has enough willpower to handle what she can’t control. (Sports Illustrated)
California Olympic hopefuls support the decision to postpone. (Orange County Register)
Olympians have another year to prepare for the Olympics, which is both a blessing and a curse. (New York Times)
Olympian Erik Kynard confronts another hurdle. (The Blade)
Hammer thrower Camryn Rogers’ Tokyo dreams are put on hold. (Cal Sports Report)
Safety first for U.S. sprinter Noah Lyles, who finds different ways and places to train. (NBC)
Lyles focuses on staying healthy, fit and prepared. (World Athletics)
Distance runners react to delaying the Olympics. (Runner’s World)
Olympians Emma Coburn and Jenny Simpson react to the decision to postpone the Olympics. (Daily Camera)
Amid fear and uncertainty, here is why Allyson Felix won’t lose hope. (Time)
Irish sprinter Phil Healy doesn’t plan to waste the extra time the Olympic postponement has granted her. (The Independent)
The Olympics have been postponed. Now, what? (USA Today)
The 2021 time frame for the Olympics is unclear. (USA Today)
Delaying the Olympics could cost Japan an extra $5.7 billion. (ESPN)
IOC president Thomas Bach invokes President Trump while defending his handling of the decision to postpone the Olympics. (ESPN)
What’s next for Tokyo? It’s a problem, and it’s complicated. (ESPN)
Postponing the Olympics could present financial problems for Olympic hopefuls. (KSDK.com)
#AthleticsTogether: A message from the RunnerSpace, Athletic and DyeStat team. (Video)
Former University of Oregon pole vaulter Cole Walsh breaks through at the world level. (Track & Field News)
USATF Q-and-A with Olympic javelin thrower Kara Winger, a grad of Skyview High in Vancouver. (USATF)
Colorado’s Dani James is selected as USTFCCCA Division I women’s indoor athlete of the year.
Former University of Guelph track coach Dave Scott gets slapped with a lifetime ban by Athletics Canada. (The Canadian Press)
World U20 Championships in Kenya are postponed because of the pandemic. (DyeStat)
In a podcast recorded before the Olympics were postponed, the House of Run guys discuss how the pandemic has roiled the track and field world.
The front page for LetsRun.com.
The links package from Track & Field News.
The news links from RunnerSpace.com.
-- Ken Goe
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