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Olympics: Former Buff Jenny Simpson Heading to Rio

By Austin Cassidy

Jul 10, 2016; Eugene, OR, USA; Jenny Simpson reacts after competing in the the women s 1500m finals in the 2016 U.S. Olympic track and field team trials at Hayward Field. Mandatory Credit: Glenn Andrews-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 10, 2016; Eugene, OR, USA; Jenny Simpson reacts after competing in the the women s 1500m finals in the 2016 U.S. Olympic track and field team trials at Hayward Field. Mandatory Credit: Glenn Andrews-USA TODAY Sports /
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Former Colorado Buffalo Jenny Simpson is making yet another trip to the Olympics as part of Team USA.

Will her third time be the charm?

On Sunday, Jenny Simpson secured her spot in a third Olympics by finishing first place in the 1,500-meter run at the U.S. Olympic Team Track & Field Trials. She ran with a time of 4:04.74.

“Immediately crossing the finish line one of the major thoughts is, ‘Now I have a month of really hard training.’ If you make the Olympic Games I feel like this is the first three of six rounds. And so this is really fun and it’s great and I can’t wait until the awards ceremony and to know I’m going to be a three-time Olympian,” Simpson said following the race. “But really this is like a blip on the radar screen; it’s right back to work and right back to trying to really have an excellent Olympic Games.”

As a student athlete at the University of Colorado, Simpson won the 2006 NCAA Outdoor championship steeplechase with a time of 9:53.04.

She went on to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics while still enrolled as a Buffalo.  That year she finished 9th in the 3,000 meter steeplechase.

In 2012, Simpson qualified to compete in the 1,500-meter run and advanced to the semi-final round in the London games.

In recent years she has continued to very actively race, winning last year’s Prefontaine Classic and several national championships in the process.

Simpson was also selected as the winner of the 2014 Jackie Joyner Kersee Award, the highest accolade bestowed to female competitors by USA Track and Field.

“Everybody talks about how making the team is a relief,” Simpson told the media after the race. “But the hardest thing is you are the one who has to prove it to you. You’re the one who is standing at the starting line, and you’re the one who has to believe ‘I’m 1,500 meters away from another team.’ I’m just so grateful I proved to myself that I could do it.”

Next: Von Miller Takes a Stand, Could Sit Out

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