Val Constien ran her 2020 Olympic standard (then 9:30) at the 2021 Portland Track Festival. For years, by then the American steeplechase team consisted of 2 locked up spots all but reserved for Emma Coburn and Courtney Frerichs who won gold and silver at the 2017 World Championships, and one rotating spot. In 2016 it was occupied by Colleen Quigley. When Quigley ran 9:10 in 2018, she was the 3rd ranked American, and 22 seconds faster than #4. Many wondered if other boats would rise, or if we lived in an age with two phenoms that wouldn’t be touched for generations. Val Constien made the Olympic team in 2021. 9:25 was her fastest time. She was unsponsored even after Tokyo and used her prize money from PTF to travel to indoor meets in 2022. She placed 8th in the Final at the US Chanps in 2022. Coburn, Courtney Wayment and Frerichs made the team. In 2023, she signed with Nike. She tore her ACL in May at the Doha DL and it appeared that she could become another in the cast of rotating...