Josette Norris will focus first on the 1,500 on Thursday and Saturday, and she expects to run the 5,000 on Sunday, too. Photo by Chloe Montague
Josette Norris trusts her own endurance. Her determination to double in the 1,500 meters and the 5,000 meters at the USATF outdoor championships this weekend at Hayward Field, and hopefully qualify for World Athletics Championships in July, has not faltered.
“I see myself running both events competitively for a long time,” Norris said at a USATF press conference on Wednesday.
She didn’t want to give up either event heading into USAs, where she is entering with world-qualifying times in both events. She has the second-fastest 5,000-meter time, 14 minutes, 51.32 seconds, and the third-fastest 1,500-meter time, 3:59.72.
To go to worlds, Norris has to finish in the top three in an event.
She competed in the U.S. Olympic trials in the 5,000 meters last June, but failed to make the team when she finished eighth. Then, starting that August, Norris found more success competing in the 1,500 in the Diamond League. She finished third at the Prefontaine Classic, Lausanne Diamond League and Zurich Diamond League final.
Most recently, Norris finished fifth at the 2022 World Indoor Championships in Belgrade in the 1,500 meters.
“I’ve been able to build on this indoor season, even when I’ve had a breakout year,” Norris said.
Norris, who runs for the Reebok Boston Track Club under coach Chris Fox, said she had been training with a focus on the 5,000 for the last year. But when she started doing 1,500s as a “tune-up” drill, she found that she liked the different tactics of the 1,500 compared to the 5,000.
She said her plan for the weekend is to first focus on her 1,500-meter preliminary round on Thursday and the 1,500-meter final on Saturday. Then she said she will assess how she’s feeling ahead of the 5,000-meter final on Sunday.
“It’s nice that the 1,500 is first so I can focus on that and pour most of my attention into that and then worry about the 5,000 afterward,” Norris said.
Norris is one of eight women who qualified in both events. However, many of these athletes scratch in order to focus on one event over the other — like Katelyn Tuohy of North Carolina State University, who scratched the 1,500 in favor of the 5,000.
Of the eight women qualified in both events, Karissa Schweizer presents a notable competition for Norris. Schweizer, who runs for the Bowerman Track Club, finished runner-up in the 5,000 and 10,000 at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in 2020. At the 2019 World Outdoor Championships, she finished ninth in the 5,000. She has already qualified for worlds in the 10,000.
Going into the weekend, Norris said she’s focused on appreciating the opportunity to compete in both events.
“I feel good about it,” Norris said, “because it gives me more options and experience. And hopefully it’s a really tough challenge to see where I stack up this weekend. It gives me the chance to do it for years to come.”
