Val Constien caps off wild 2024 season at Diamond League final in Brussels
Eagle County's two-time Olympian finished seventh in a time of 9:13.31
Frederic Sierakowski/AP photo
Val Constien capped her improbable 2024 track and field season at the Diamond League final in Brussels, Belgium on Saturday. The former Battle Mountain runner placed seventh in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in a time of 9 minutes, 13.31 seconds.
“This race was tough mentally and physically,” Constien stated on her social media channels afterward. “I didn’t have the finish I’d hoped for, but I’m so grateful for the opportunity to toe the line with such amazing women.”
The Diamond League, consisting of 15 international meets, is the top professional annual track and field circuit. Only distance runners in the season-long points standings qualified for the finals, held Sept. 13-14 in the Belgium capital.
The wave-light pacing system was set to a world-record schedule in the women’s steeplechase on Saturday. Olympic champion Winfred Yavi followed Olivia Gurth, who was acting as the race’s rabbit, for a 2:55.6 opening kilometer.
“The race in Rome gave me a lot of motivation for today,” Yavi told Diamond League media. The 24-year-old missed Beatrice Chepkoech’s six-year-old world record of 8:44.32 by just 0.07 a week ago at the Rome Diamond League meet.
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“I was aiming for the world record but with the circumstances and how the race turned out, it was not possible,” Yavi continued. “It was too cold to take a shot at the world record.”
The pace slowed considerably in the second third as the race became a three-woman affair between Yavi, Paris bronze medalist Faith Cherotich, and Peruth Chemutai, the 2020 Olympic gold medalist. Constien’s first two kilometer splits were 3:04.3 and 3:05.7. The Vail product and CU alumna sat in fifth until the final lap, but was only able to close in 72 seconds.
Cherotich surged off the last water barrier to secure the win in 9:02.36 as Yavi settled for second (9:02.87).
“I didn’t expect to win today, but I think that I ran a good race,” Cherotich told Diamond League media. “It wasn’t easy, but I kept saying to myself that if I’m still in the lead after the last water jump, I was going to win.”
The Diamond League finale concludes a monumental comeback season for Constien, who is in her second year as a Nike-sponsored athlete.
After tearing her ACL in May 2023, Constien underwent surgery at the Steadman Clinic in Vail. She conducted her first steeplechase workout this February and returned to the track for the first time in a 1500-meters in April. She won her first steeplechase of the season, running 9:27.22 to win the聽Track Fest in Los Angeles on May 11.聽Two weeks later, she shaved four seconds off her lifetime best at the聽Prefontaine Classic, running聽9:14.29听to place fifth. The real breakout, however, happened at the Olympic Trials, where the 28-year-old set a new trials record of 9:03.22.
At the Paris Olympics in August, the two-time Olympian was still suffering the effects of COVID, which she got immediately following her trials win. She managed to make the Olympic final, placing 15th.
“What an amazing year!” Constien before thanking her coaches, teammates, doctors and friends. “I’m headed back home for some much needed R&R. Can’t wait to take my break and enjoy Boulder and fall!”
