Eagle County Olympian returning to the track for first race in 11 months
2021 Olympian Val Constien hasn't raced since she tore her ACL in her Diamond League debut on May 5
Phillip Bond/Courtesy photo
Former Battle Mountain runner Val Constien will return to the track for the first time in 11 months on Saturday.
The 2021 Olympian will be racing the 1500-meters at the Bryan Clay Invitational in Azusa, California.
“The 1500 or the mile is always a great way to start the season,” Constien stated in an email to the Vail Daily on Thursday. “I always try to open up my indoor or outdoor season with a faster event. I feel that it’s a good way to shock the system into being race-ready.”
Constien made the Tokyo Olympic team in 2021 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, but spent the latter half of the 2021 season and most of 2022 injured and unsponsored.
After winning the USA Track and Field indoor title in the 3,000-meters in Albuquerque in February of 2023, the CU alumna appeared poised to make a run at another global championship squad that summer. But, one week after signing her first pro contract with Nike, the 28-year-old tore her ACL landing awkwardly off the water jump in her Diamond League debut on May 5 in Doha, Qatar. The injury sidelined her the rest of the season.
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Dr. Matthew Provencher operated on the steeplechaser last May at the Steadman Clinic, and Constien has chronicled her rehab and recovery on her . Eight months after her surgery, Constien posted a video of her first steeplechase workout.
“I’ve done some challenging 1500-meter and steeplechase workouts in the last few weeks that indicate I’m fit,” Constien said Thursday. “There’s no secret formula or special star sign. I’ve been putting in some solid training sessions for the past five months, and I’m ready to see what that can translate to on the track!”
NCAA athletes in search of a national championships qualifying mark 鈥� and pro runners looking for the Olympic standard 鈥� have historically attended the Bryan Clay Invitational every spring. Constien said she hasn’t finalized her race schedule yet, but plans to do two steeplechase races before the Olympic Trials, which are June 21-30 in Eugene, Oregon.
“I’m so excited to be healthy enough to run daily, let alone race,” she said, adding that she’s not scared of racing, but will “always be nervous.”
“If you’re not nervous, then you don’t care enough about the outcome,” she said.
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