Episode 40: Courtney Frerichs on Long-Term Success: Gymnastics, Strength Training, and Teammates

Last August, we witnessed the most electrifying track race in history at the World Championships: the women's 3,000m Steeplechase. Before this race, no American woman had ever won a medal in the steeple at the World Championships. Emma Coburn and Courtney Frerichs changed that with an historic 1-2 finish, decimating a field that included the current World Record holder and Olympic Champion. This was also the first time any Americans had taken home both gold and silver at the World Champions or the Olympics in a race longer than 400m since the 1912 Olympics. Both Emma and Courtney also ran faster than the existing American Record. NBC Sports called the race "shocking." Sports Illustrated described Courtney's effort "certainly one of the biggest surprises of the world championships." And ESPN boldly proclaimed that this was one of the best races in the history of running. I'll paraphrase ESPN: Before this race, Courtney' fastest steeplechase time was 9:19. She beat that time by an enormous 15 seconds to win silver in 9:03.77. That's like scoring a hat trick in a World Cup soccer game after totaling only three goals all season. No American had won a world title in steeplechase since 1952. No U.S. women had ever finished 1-2 in any world championship distance race. Track nerds -- why isn't there such a thing as a football nerd? -- are calling this the most thrilling race of the 2017 World Championships, and one of the greatest moments in American distance running history. You sports fans can just call it amazing. Like a football game where -- nah, forget that. After a race like this, nobody cares about football. A 15-second improvement? Over a race that's less than two miles long? INSANITY! That kind of PR puts Courtney in the record books. She's now the 8th fastest woman to ever run the steeplechase. Today you're going to hear directly from Courtney about this historic race.