Alice Schmidt of Coronado Falls Short; Olympic Dream Ends in Semifinals

Alice Schmidt, an assistant coach at Coronado High School, took fourth in her semifinal heat Thursday in the 800-meter run at the London Games but failed to advance to the finals.

Her Olympic dream ended with a time of 2:01.63 in the first of three semifinal heats—aired after 1 a.m. Friday on NBC. Defending Olympic champion Pamela Jelimo of Kenya won in 1:59.42.

“I got stuck in the middle of the pack, so unfortunately when things slowed down I was part of the train,” Schmidt said. “It wasn’t the race I hoped or dreamed for, but it was definitely a very positive Olympic experience.”

American teammate Alysia Montano was fourth in her own heat, but qualified for the final with a time of 1:58.42. Geena Gall of Team USA was eighth and last in her semifinal heat in 2:05.76.

Montano said: “My coach talked to me about relaxing, and I think I relaxed too much. When they made a move on the backstretch it took me a second to respond, and when I did it wasn’t the energy to respond it was the fact that I was boxed and had to jump out. That energy was a total error and I had to make it up in the last 200m. ... I’m really thankful I get an opportunity to redeem myself.”

Said Gall: “I’m just very blessed to be here. Unfortunately I had an injury a few weeks before the Olympics and it wasn’t in the cards.”

Schmidt—a 30-year-old who prepared for her second Games at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista—has an all-time best of 1:58.61, set a year ago. She ran her season best of 1:59.46 in June at a meet in Eugene, OR.