News

June 4, 2008 - Papaflessia Meeting, Kalamata, Greece

A step forward in Greece

With perfect weather conditions and great competition in Greece, it presented a great opportunity for good performances.

Athletes from all over the world showed up at the Papaflessia Meeting on Wednesday night, many aiming for Olympic qualifying marks and many achieving this goal.

The women’s 1500m was stacked with top Russians and Romanians, one of which who had already run 4-minutes this season. Hilary said she was feeling good and very focused going into the race.

“It was a great night to race and I knew girls in the race had run fast and I could just get in there and race. I was excited to see what I could do.”

The rabbit led the race out in about 4:02 pace and Hilary tucked in the back of the lead pack, but unfortunately unaware of her exact splits because they weren’t in English. The eventual winner was a new-comer to the 1500m, Romania’s Liliana Popescu in a time of 4:00.36 Hilary was 8th in 4:13.95, but disappointed at her finish.

“I felt really good and was with the pack coming into the bell, but lost contact in the final lap, which definitely cost me some time. I do feel like I took a step forward because I’m getting stronger with each race and I know soon I will be able to stick with the kick.”

Hilary says she’s training hard and moving in the right direction, focusing on upcoming races in Morocco and Spain before heading back to Canada for Olympic Trials on July 3-6.

For full results in Greece, see here.

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