EDMONTON, Alberta — It appears that Hilary Stellingwerff is going to get the chance she's spent four years waiting for.
The former Wisconsin standout will have to wait at least one more day for it to become official, but Stellingwerff should rest easy knowing she has done everything necessary to book a return trip to the Olympic Games.
The 34-year-old raced her way to a third-place finish in the 1500 meters at the Canadian Olympic Trials on Saturday, a performance that, combined with her season-best time of 4 minutes, 5.61 seconds, should make her the at-large selection to Team Canada for the upcoming Games in Rio de Janeiro.
She finished Saturday's race in 4:18.99 and slid to third following a late pass by runner-up Nicole Sifuentes, who claimed the second and final automatic spot on the Canadian Olympic team in 4:18.65. Gabriela Stafford took the national title in 4:18.51.
According to Athletics Canada's selection criteria, the third spot on the Olympic team will be filled by the highest-ranked athlete among the top eight finishers in the race. That distinction belongs to Stellingwerff, who stands No. 3 on the Canadian list this season with her mark of 4:05.61 — also satisfying the requirement of meeting the Olympic qualifying standard of 4:07.00.
Stellingwerff has unfinished business on the Olympic stage. She missed out on qualifying for the 1500 meters final by one spot at the 2012 Games, but 6 of the 12 finalists in London went on to fail doping tests, leaving her wondering what could have been had the race not been tainted.
"Although London was an amazing experience, I feel like I didn't get exactly what I wanted out of it," she recently told the Waterloo Region Record newspaper. "I feel like it's a second chance to see exactly where I line up."
The addition of Stellingwerff makes it five UW products that will compete on the track in Rio. She joins countryman Mohammed Ahmed, who won the Canadian title in the 5000 meters to make his second Olympic team, and Americans Kelsey Card (women's discus), Evan Jager (men's steeplechase) and Zach Ziemek (men's decathlon). In addition, former Badgers track standout Gwen Jorgensen, a two-time Big Ten champion at UW, heads to the Games as the gold medal favorite in the women's triathlon after winning the last two world titles in dominant fashion.
FLAX HALFWAY THROUGH HEPTATHLON
Former UW All-American Jessica Flax opened the heptathlon at the U.S. Olympic Trials on a strong note Saturday, clocking a time of 13.57 seconds in the 100 hurdles. That was the eighth-fastest mark in the field.
Flax closed the first day of competition in 16th place overall, with 3,403 points. Barbara Nwaba leads the field through four of seven events with a score of 3,903.
Flax, a two-time Big Ten champion and three-time All-American for the Badgers, has enjoyed her best season of post-collegiate competition in 2016 and posted a lifetime-best score of 6,068 points to earn a runner-up finish at the Mt. SAC Relays in April.
She followed her strong hurdles opener Saturday by clearing 5 feet, 5 1/4 inches in the high jump, throwing 41-8 3/4 in the shot put and clocking a time of 25.43 in the 200 meters.
Competition in the heptathlon concludes Sunday with the long jump, javelin and 800 meters.
