Interview With Chanelle Price After She Joins Sub-2:00 800m Club In Doha
May 9, 2014
American Chanelle Price‘s amazing 2014 continued on Friday in Doha.
Price the surprise World Indoor Champion at 800 in March in Poland, started off her 800m outdoor season with a bang as she ran 1:59.75 to go sub-2:00 for the first time. Price challenged World Outdoor Champion Eunice Sum down the homestretch and finished second. Recap and analysis of the race is here. Before we get to that, LRC tracked down Chanelle in Doha and talked to her via email about her sub 2:00 run.
LRC: How does it feel to finally go sub 2:00?
Chanelle: It feels great! That’s definitely the goal for me this year, to consistently run under 2. After running 2 flat indoor, I knew I would break 2 this season, I just didn’t know it would be this early! I’m excited!
LRC: Tell us a little about the race. It was very evenly paced. The pack was close to 60 at 400 and Eunice was 1:29.70 at 600. Were you focused on the time at all or just racing?
Price Got Gold Indoors and Now Sub 2:00 Outdoors
Chanelle: My intention was to go out with the rabbit. But when I got off the line, my legs felt a little flat. So I changed my game plan and decided to just compete. I had great positioning the whole time. The pace was pretty slow, but going 59/60 definitely shows that there’s a lot more in the tank. My coach always tells me not to focus on time. He says to run to win, and fast times will come. So that’s what I did.
LRC: Talk a little about that final 100. You battled tough with Eunice and you definitely leaned at the line. You must have known you were close to 2:00.
Chanelle: I honestly didn’t know! I knew we were finishing pretty strong, but I wasn’t sure if I broke 2. I just focused on keeping my form the last 100 and tried my best not to decelerate.
LRC: Are you still working at your job? How have things changed with your life since winning World Indoors? You got $40,000 for winning World Indoors and $6000 today. Do you have any plans for the money?
Chanelle: Shortly after worlds, I signed with Nike. I’m not working my two jobs anymore, but I don’t like for my whole life to be track track track, so I do a lot of volunteer work with the Big Brothers Big Sisters and Turn A Frown Around organizations. I haven’t really splurged with my money! I’m more into saving it and using it for a really nice vacation or something later on down the line!
LRC: The atmosphere at the track on TV seemed amazing with a loud crowd. Is that the case?
Chanelle: Yes, the fans were amazing!!! They were so excited and into the races! I really enjoyed the atmosphere.
LRC: What’s next for you?
Chanelle: Next for me is World Relays and then the national 800 at Pre.
We’ll have to do a little research to see how many are in the exclusive club below:
Congrats @ChanellePrice on becoming a member of Coach Clark’s @JJClarkUT sub 2:00 club! Great run in Doha #LVFL
— UT Track & Field/XC (@Vol_Track) May 9, 2014
Unfortunately, our partner Universal Sports does not have highlights of the 800m race up yet on their youtube page, but US visitors can watch the entire meet on demand. If you are adventurous, you can watch this video of the race in a foreign language.
Doha 800m Recap and Analysis: Chanelle Price Goes Sub 2:00 as Eunice Sum Wins Battle of World Champions