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Americans and others descended on tiny Heusden-Zolder, Belgium, for another year of blazing fast middle distance track times. One U.S. Olympian had a rough day, while a few runners who had hard luck at the Trials had a strong start to their European summers.

Men's 1500: Who Needs Monaco?

In a ridiculously fast men's 1500, Ayanleh Souleiman won in 3:31.68--faster than Asbel Kiprop or Mo Farah ran in Monaco last night. It's also probably the best performance by a Jama Aden-coached athlete since Spanish police raided Aden's hotel room and arrested him as part of a doping investigation. Souleiman was just ninth at the world indoor championships in the 1500; this was his outdoor season debut in the event and his fastest time since running 3:30 in Paris over a year ago.

HUGE season best for Souleiman in 3:31, Ryan Hill bounces back from the Trials with a 3:35 PR!! #Heusden pic.twitter.com/ZBOxKHG8gY

— FloTrack (@FloTrack) July 16, 2016

Behind Souleiman, American Ryan Hill lowered his 1500 PR by a second and a half to 3:35.59. After finishing sixth in the Olympic Trials 5K, Hill knew that he was ready for a PR, saying he wanted to run 3:34:



Watch the full race here:

Women's 1500: Cory McGee and Rachel Schneider Bounce Back

McGee and Schneider came into the Olympic Trials with excellent pedigrees--McGee made the world championships in 2013 and Schneider was fifth at USAs in 2014. But both finished one spot out of qualifying in their respective semifinals in Eugene and were forced to turn their summer focus to running fast in Europe. Both set season bests in 4:07 and beat steeplechase Olympians Aisha Praught and Erin Teschuk. Only six women even ran under 4:10 in the Olympic Trials 1500 final.

4:07 season bests for Cory McGee and Rachel Schneider in #Heusden! pic.twitter.com/6MkSzLXIlg

— FloTrack (@FloTrack) July 16, 2016

Watch the full race here:

Men's 800: Charles Jock Only Runs Fast When It Counts

Blue-collar hero Charles Jock was one of the most unexpected members of the Olympic team, coming into the meet with an 1:47 800 season best and running 1:45 to grab third in the final. He immediately reverted to his pre-Trials form in Belgium, finishing behind his Oregon Track Club Elite teammate Harun Abda in 1:48.

1:46 and 1:48 for OTC teammates Harun Abda and Charles Jock in the #Heusden #KBCNacht 800 pic.twitter.com/eJaJuV1SXK

— FloTrack (@FloTrack) July 16, 2016

Charles Jock 2016 800s
4/30: 1:48.53
5/20: 1:47.67
7/1: 1:48.71 (OT prelim)
7/2: 1:47.35 (OT semi)
7/4: 1:45.48 (OT final)
7/16: 1:48.23

— Jonathan Gault (@jgault13) July 16, 2016

Jock's 2016 brings to mind a Lasse Viren quote about why he did more or less nothing between Olympics, then showed up and kicked ass there. "Some do well in other races, some run fast times, but they cannot do well in the ultimate, the Olympics...The question is not why I run this why, but why so many others can not."

Watch the full race here: 



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