Agony of the feet: Abby Steiner comes up short of Olympic berth
People often ask what’s the most difficult thing to cover in sports. Easy answer: the near miss.
I’ve written quite a few “close calls,” from Ohio State football national championship games decided by a last-second missed field goal to Jose Mesa’s meltdown in the 1997 World Series to high school state basketball games lost on a desperation 3-pointer to lipped-out 3-foot putts that cost a golf match.
Victors are jubilant. Losers despondent. It’s easy to interview the winners. Not so much those who come up just short.
Abby Steiner came up just short. By .03 seconds, a blink of the eye from qualifying for the Paris Olympics in the 200 meters.
Steiner, a former Dublin Coffman and Kentucky sprinter and American record holder in the women’s indoor 200 and 300 meters, finished sixth in the outdoor 200 Saturday at the U.S. Olympic trials in Eugene, Oregon. Only the top three make the team. Steiner clocked 22.24; third place was 21.91.
As a witness, it is crushing to watch an Olympic hopeful come so close when the Games come once every four years. Imagine Rory McIlroy needing to wait four more years before he can attempt to redeem himself from those missed putts at last month’s U.S. Open. Or try telling Ohio State coach Ryan Day the Buckeyes must wait four years for another shot at Michigan.
As a participant, life must go on. But before the wound scabs over, the cut bleeds for what feels like forever. My own experience involved dropping from first place to fourth – one spot short of advancing to the Ohio high school track and field meet – when my track spike fell apart and flew off at the 60-meter mark of the 100-meter race.
Steiner’s situation involved trying to come back from surgery on both feet in 2023 that sidelined her until December, when she began training again. At the time of her surgeries, she was among the fastest 200-meter runners in the nation, having set the U.S. 200 indoor record of 21.77 in 2022 and the 300 indoor in early 2023.
After placing sixth Sunday, Steiner maintained a stiff upper lip during her post-race interview until her emotional stamina gave out.
“This is who I love racing against, the best of the best,” she said. “It’s always a wonderful experience getting to come in here and run against these ladies. They motivate me in so many ways. … It just didn’t work out for us this year.”
Then came the tears.
“Sorry,” she said, wiping her eyes. “Obviously very disappointing. No one comes here wanting to do anything but represent the country in the Olympics. We put our heart and soul into this sport, put in so much work during the season to get here.”
Handled like a champ.
Steiner, 24, composed herself and provided perspective.
“I love doing this. Though sometimes it sucks, a lot of the times it’s really fun,” she said, adding that she is uncertain what the rest of her season will look like, since all focus was on the trials. “Getting in an environment like this gets me excited to keep going.”
Neal Shipley already raking in six figures
PGA Tour rookie Neal Shipley pocketed a cool $113,068 after finishing in a five-way tie for 20th Sunday in his professional debut at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit.
No wonder the Pittsburgh native who played at Ohio State the past two seasons lists Tiger Woods among his favorites. Woods is largely responsible for tournament purses increasing over the past 25 years. His success and drawing power-spiked TV ratings, which increased by as much as 30% in events he played. Networks took notice to the point where a 20th-place finish gets you a six-figure payout.
Shipley has enjoyed quite a year. A runner-up finish at the 2023 U.S. Amateur earned him a spot in the Masters, where he finished as low amateur (tie 53) while playing the final two rounds with Woods. He repeated the low amateur finish at the U.S. Open (T26) to become only the sixth golfer to finish as low amateur in both events.
The 23-year-old threw out the first pitch in last Monday’s MLB game between the Detroit Tigers and Philadelphia Phillies at Comerica Park, then contended for the lead at the Rocket Mortgage, coming within three shots of the lead on Saturday before struggling down the stretch. He finished the tournament 12-under.
Listening in
“It’s amazing what Caitlin’s been able to do in her short career so far. The one thing that I really love about her, she loves the game. You can tell she’s put the work in. ... It’s been a lot of pressure, a lot of things thrown at her, and she keeps showing up and keeps getting better every single game.” – 42-year-old Phoenix Mercury guard Diana Taurasi, the WNBA’s career scoring leaders, on Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark.
Off-topic
I’m not what you would call a classical music aficionado, but I like any music that stands the test of time, and Beethoven, Mozart and Brahms certainly qualify. I got to hear all three Sunday night as the Columbus Symphony’s Community Concert Series came to Westgate Park. The free one-hour performance included free ice cream. That’s two “frees” for those counting.
It was a splendid evening, and I encourage readers to attend the next two series nights, 7 p.m. at the Linden Community Center July 7 and 7 p.m. July 14 at the Woodward Community Center. You need to get classy before you can stay classy, people.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Dublin's Abby Steiner sees Olympic dream come up short in 200 trials
