Southern Utah Hero Headed To Olympic Final: Shouts Out Her Hometown On National TV!
The eyes of the world are on the Olympics in Paris, but the eyes of Utah are on Whittni Morgan! The freak athlete from Panguitch is representing the United States and trying to shock the world in bringing home a gold medal.
WHITTNI'S FIRST RACE:
Whittni competed in the 5000M this morning. The event was broadcasted on E! and I was watching, full of nerves! This was race full of women hoping to take AT LEAST 8th place, to advance to the final on Monday. There were two heats, with Heat 1 having two Americans (Elise Cranny and Kara Schweizer) qualifying for the final. Finally it was time for Heat 2, Whittni's heat. The race took just over 15 minutes to complete, with Whittni hanging out near the middle of the pack the entire race. The bells rang, signifying the final lap, and the girls turned it on... But Whittni REALLY turned it on. She started to separate herself from the pack and make sure she would be in the final! Whittni finished in 5th place with a time of 15:02.14, just .07 seconds off her personal record that she set last year. The winner of the race, Kenya’s Beatrice Chebet won the heat with a time of 15:00.73.
SHOUT OUT PANGUITCH!
Whittni was interviewed following her race where she spoke about how she felt. She talked about how proud of herself she was, that she raced smart. She mentioned that when she was a new collegiate racer, she ran dumb, but today, she ran extremely smart. She then got to shout out her hometown, family, and college. "I love you, Panguitch!" and "Go BYU!"
MONDAY'S FINAL:
Whittni will be one of three Americans racing in the 5000-Meter Final in Paris, and one of 16 women in general. Whittni will need to run the best race of her life to bring a medal home to Panguitch! But we all believe she can do it!
INCREDIBLE COMEBACK:
Whittni had knee surgery in November, and started training again in April. That's right, a few months ago, Whittni couldn't even train, and now she has qualified for the Olympic Final in Paris on Monday!
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