Jenny Simpson Tribute Thread

every fifth avenue mile she will come over and sign my friends and i’s bib. She is a class act and she didn’t need toyko to establish herself as one of the best US milers in history

belfast1913 wrote:

Javman wrote:

I already knew she wouldn't make the team 2 weeks ago watching her run on TV. She's was struggling to get to 4:06. It ain't there anymore, folks. Hasn't been for a few years now.

she ran 3:58 in 2019 and ran a stellar 5k in 2020 she just had a tough year with covid + age caught up

Exactly, you didn't know sh**, she was rolling right along as the peak of ability into the beginning of 2020. I think it would have been a tough, long shot to medal last year if the Olympics were held but she would have been in the hunt, running exceptionally smart and up to the absolute limit of her ablity.

I wonder if there is any 2nd guessing of trying to race more this winter/spring before the trials. I do hope she continues on with the season as I could very easily see her progressing drastically with another 2 months of training and racing. Her semi looked pretty strong, closing in 45 in a 4:09 race.. not a "wow" performance but I think there is more in the tank with continuing her season.

Daegu 2011 still gives me chills.

American distance running has come so far in 10 years that it’s easy to forget how amazing that gold in the 1500 was.

She’s one of the greats.

I know 2011 was the Gold but the amazing thing about her career is that it might not even be in the top 3 of my favorite races of hers.

1) Rio 2016 - on paper she shouldn't have even been top 5, she absolutely HUNTED and scalped everyone down the last 150 meters. Muir , Hassan. I rewatch that race every so often and it gives me chills.

2)The diamond league championship win where here and Rowbury crash over the line for her to win the title.

3)2017 World's Silver Medal - in the last 75 meters she blows past Muir and Hassan to hold of Semenya. She nearly caught Faith Kipyegon at the line

4) The 3:59 and her reaction when she almost catches Jamal at PRE. She annihilated the NCAA record and became the 3rd American woman (maybe 4th?) to ever run under 4.

Bless. The thing that Jenny had was a mental believe in herself and her talent and an emotional apptitude and steadiness that I'm not sure we'll ever see again - even if someone comes along and can run 3:57-3:58

All iconic. I know this is not the end of the line for her but what a SUPERLATIVE career. Hats off and I hope there's more to come.

Thank you Jenny. Your great, gutsy races brought back US middle distance running to a level that I never thought that I would see again.

That 3:59.90 race at Pre in 1999 was one of the top five most electrifying performances I've ever seen. Her kick was so ferocious even the announcers were caught totally off guard.

She went on to have a spectacular career.

1999?? How old was she… 12? So she ran 3:59 at 12?

Who is to say she won’t move up to 5k I believe that is definitely in the cards.

On youtube, there is a post race interview with Jenny, classy as always making no excuses.

But, she kept coughing throughout the interview. She handled the doping question well.

Did she announce her retirement, or are people nicely declaring her done? She had a legendary career, most decorated runner in her event against an absolute clown world of dopers.

Ben True, Jenny Simpson, Shelby Houlihan. We saw many careers come to an end this week. Good runs, time to move onto the next phase of life.

As a long time Florida distance runner and high school Cross Country and Track coach, I was aware of Jenny going back to her Oviedo High School days. But what really got my attention was when she went to Ohio for the qualifier for World Juniors XC and made the team in a snow storm. A somewhat unheralded Florida kid, running in really tough - and foreign to her - conditions, and she did it. That mental toughness and determination showed she might achieve special things. And she did!!!

trauma trauma wrote:

Probably one of the harder hit from the pandemic year, age-wise.

Ah, man, didn't even think of this.

The pandemic really messed up a lot of people:

Lomong

Simpson

Brazier (didn't have a broken foot last year)...

Too many other aging vets/legends that we won't see ever again to name.

I had only one opportunity to see her race in person and that was when she was in high school at the Great American Invitational in Cary around 2003 or so. Katelyn Kaltenbach just edged her by about one second. What a great finish for the both of them. The course used to finish in the soccer stadium back then. I remember Sarah Bowman and Katie Niehaus were in that race, too. Kaltenbach ended up winning Footlocker that year and Simpson (Barringer at the time) took third. All the talk that day was about Kaltenbach (largely due to her older sister's success) but nobody realized at the time who the true star of the race was going to be. Never imagined she would become America's greatest ever miler.

fight man wrote:

Father time caught up to the greatest American 1500m runner ever.

Thank you Jenny for all the great runs!

I appreciate her stance on medical secrecy.

Maybe it was 'father time". But it just seemed Jenny Simpson wasn't in peak shape for the trials. She may have rested too much during the pandemic. And I am a fan of Jenny. She just didn't seem to be in her usual race form.

Big fan. Great racer, over a long period. What I think I like best, though, is that I've never seen/read an interview with her in which she isn't upbeat and gracious, always ready to compliment her competitors. She just seems like a nice person.