Canadian women eliminated in Olympic 1500m

Canadians Hilary Stellingwerff and Nicole Sifuentes saw their Olympics come to an end after failing to advance past the semifinals of the 1500m, Wednesday in London.

Running in the first of two semifinals, Stellingwerff finished sixth in 4:05.57, just one-tenth behind fifth place, barely missing a berth in the final. The Speed River athlete ran most of the race in the middle of the pack and left her kick until very late. Stellingwerff made a sneaky pass on the inside in the final few strides, but she ran out of room to catch fifth spot.

Sifuentes found herself in the quicker of the two semifinals from the gun. Ethiopia’s Abeba Aregawi won the heat in 4:01.03, the fastest time of the day. Sifuentes, who remained near the back for most of the race, never really challenged the top 5, finishing 11th in 4:06.33.

“I didn’t expect the heat to be that fast,” Sifuentes said. “I was surprised. I don’t think I was ready for that.”

Meanwhile, Canadian Damian Warner had a spectacular opening day of the decathlon. After four events, Warner is in third place with 4,386 points, on pace to beat his personal best of 8,107 points from the Canadian Trials. American Ashton Eaton, the world record holder, leads the competition.