McGettigan: I’ll pick up the pieces and come back stronger
The 30-year-old Russian, who is married to 400m runner Anton Galkin, is one of the hidden gems of middle distance running. She has set national records over all the distances but she seldom races outside Russia. In fact she did not run at all in 2005, only once in 2006 and this year she had just one race in Oslo before the Olympic Games.
But there was no sign of rustiness about her performances in Beijing where she took the field apart with kilometre splits of 2:58.63 and 3:02.57. Behind her Eunice Jepkorir (Kenya) set an African record at 9:07.41 and her Russian compatriot, Ekaterina Volkova, set a seasonal best 9:07.64 to take the bronze medal.
But spare a thought for the teak tough Spaniard, Marta Dominguez, who stripped Sonia O’Sullivan of her European 5,000m title in 2002. She had an Olympic medal at her mercy when she hit the barrier and fell into the water jump on the final circuit.
McGettigan never got in a striking blow. She was involved in what was the third race for places for a long time but drifted back to finish a disappointing last in 9:55.89.
“I’m definitely in the shape of my life but maybe I don’t have the strength to do back-to-back races,” she said. “I felt really good two nights ago and I thought I was ready for that. Maybe I am not experienced in nine-minute races — I am not able to handle not being up at the front — I need to be up in the race and feeling competitive. To be at the back of the field and feel like I am hanging on is not my style. Maybe that’s what it is.”
She admitted Samitova is running well — in a different class — seeing as she has run very fast times at other distances as well.
“I felt so sluggish tonight,” she said. “I was just not in the game. I don’t know why that is. I don’t know if I got too excited before the race and burned off the energy before I even got there.
“I’m not going to lie, I’m disappointed. I am just going to have to pick up the pieces and come back stronger.
“I wasn’t hurdling well and when I hit the ground I wasn’t getting the right rhythm. It just wasn’t on and I haven’t felt like that in a long time. Right now I’m pretty disappointed.
“It was lonely out there on my own but it’s the Olympic Games and I definitely wanted to finish and keep my head up. I know I am going to be devastated. It was a bit of a nightmare really but I should come back stronger, I have in the past.”
Joanne Cuddihy brought the curtain down on what has been a nightmare season for her when she made her exit from the women’s 400m, finishing sixth in her first round heat in 53.32secs. She has been plagued by a succession of injuries all year.
“My leg was pretty sore the whole time,” she said. “Then the whole thing just fell apart at about 80 (metres). I just knew that was it. I am sure it is a combination of the inhibition from the leg and I am sure the lack of training.
“This is the end of a long and difficult road really. But I am happy that I went out there today. I got so much support from so many people that I felt I owed it to everyone to go out. I know I fell apart but I gave it everything I had. I went out there and that in itself was a really difficult thing to do.
“The only way I would have been disappointed today is if I had not given it my all.”
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