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A Utah runner competing in the men's 3,000 meter steeplechase will not be advancing to the finals.
It wasn't one of Josh McAdam's better times; he usually runs the event around 8 minutes, 20 seconds. His time Saturday morning was 8:33.
"I ran a slow time, off a slow pace, I just didn't have it today. Some days you got it, some days you don't. It's the great ones who have it every day, the good ones don't," McAdams said. "That was the exact type of race I wanted to be in. It went slow, I just didn't have it. The legs weren't there today, I don't know what it was, a little dehydrated or what."
His wife, Whitney, said, "His strategy, he stays in the back, so is he in the back for strategy, or is he feeling okay? But it was really exciting."
Despite finishing near the bottom of his heat, Josh's family is still proud of him. His mom, Cindy, said, "No matter how he does it, doesn't matter, we're glad, we're proud of him."
And his dad, Russ, said, "I've watched him run from when he was little. Now he's a grown man running in the Olympics; you couldn't ask for anything else." Every time Josh cleared the water jump, he could hear his Dad cheering for him.
Though Josh won't be running Sunday for a medal, he's still got a lot ahead of him. He'll start optometry school, he and his wife are expecting their first child, and this is not the end of McAdam's running.
Ron Mann, the U.S. track coach, said, "He's got a long career ahead of him, and he's going to do great things in the future."
The upside, Josh and his family get to spend a couple days together in China, seeing the sights. And they have tickets to the Steeplechase finals on Sunday, too.
E-mail: abutterfield@ksl.com
