RESULTS

OTC Elite’s Lauren Johnson ran a big 3-second PR of 4:04.17 in the women’s 1500m today in Heusden, Belgium at the KBC Night of Athletics, officially qualifying her for the IAAF World Championhips. Johnson, who finished fourth in the 1500m at USA’s, needed to run under 4:06.50 before August 9th in order to hit the standard. Johnson’s PR entering today was 4:07.33 from last month’s Portland Track Festival. 

 

The 28-year-old had struck out in her two previous attempts of running sub-4:06.50 over in Europe this month, coming nowhere close with finishes of 4:16 in Budapest and 4:10 in Kortrijk, Belgium.

 

Saturday would be a different story, however, as Johnson scored a huge breakthrough with her runner-up finish in Heusden. She now joins Jenny Simpson, brand-new American record holder Shannon Rowbury, and Kerri Gallagher on the US women’s 1500m team for Beijing. The US gets to send four women in the event to Beijing because US champion Simpson had a bye to World Champs as a result of her overall Diamond League victory in 2014.