Shalane Flanagan becomes Olympic medal hopeful after crushing U.S. 10K record

Sunday morning started with photographing 4-time #Olympian @shalaneflanagan and watching her set an American record in the 10k. She and Amy Cragg, who finished 3rd are heading to #Rio to represent in the #Marathon @brighamandwomens

A photo posted by Dan Cutrona © ? (@dancutronaphoto) on Jun 26, 2016 at 11:18pm PDT

With the Rio Olympics just six weeks away, Shalane Flanagan is a likely contender for a medal in the women’s marathon, especially considering her Sunday result in Boston. The 34-year-old set a new American 10K road record running 30:52 at the Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) 10K to improve upon her own mark.

Flanagan finished third at the U.S. Marathon Trials in February and will represent the United States in the women’s marathon in Rio. Her June 26 time is an 11-second improvement over her previous best which she set in the Netherlands in 2015.

The B.A.A. 10K field was stacked with fast runners including two-time world marathon champion Edna Kiplagat, two-time world half-marathon medallist Mary Wacera, Boston marathon champion Atsede Baysa and Amy Cragg, Flanagan’s Bowerman Track Club teammate. Canadians Mo Ahmed and Matt Hughes are members of the Bowerman Track Club, which is based in Oregon.

Top-five results

1. Shalane Flanagan, U.S. – 30:52 (American road record)
2. Edna Kiplagat, Kenya – 31:06
3. Amy Cragg, U.S. – 31:31
4. Mary Wacera, Kenya – 32:03
5. Nancy Nzisa, Kenya – 32:12

The Boston Athletic Association is the organization that hosts the Boston marathon. Flanagan, who grew up in nearby Marblehead, Mass., became the first American to win the B.A.A. 10K.

RELATED: American Shalane Flanagan likely to receive upgraded medals after latest doping ban.

Flanagan is one of the few North American distance runners to have disrupted the East African dominance in the women’s distance events at the Olympics. She won the bronze medal in the 10,000m at the 2008 Olympics, a bronze at the world cross-country championships in 2011 and holds U.S. records from the 3,000m (indoors) up the the 10,000m.

Congratulations to Olympian @ShalaneFlanagan, who just set an American 10K record! pic.twitter.com/jXg1ADEnCs

— B.A.A. (@BAA) June 26, 2016

Records for the road 10K and 10,000m on the track are separate.