Forgues notches Olympic trial bid UM racewalker sets own mark

EUGENE, Ore. – Lauren Forgues of Boothbay walked eight minutes faster than her personal best Sunday to take ninth place in the 20-kilometer racewalk at the U.S. World Cup Trials in a time of 1 hour, 45 minutes, 45.3 seconds.

The race was won by Olympian Teresa Vail of Florida, the oldest U.S. Olympic athlete at Athens in 2004, in a “B” standard time of 1:36:18.6.

Forgues’ finish qualified her for the Olympic Trials and also placed her as the first alternate for Team USA at the World Cup competition in Cheboksary, Russia, on May 10-22.

A total of 55 countries and more than 600 athletes are expected to compete at the World Racewalking Cup competition.

Forgues, a University of Maine sophomore, was the youngest competitor in the field. She competed only in an attempt to make the Olympic Trials standard and didn’t expect to place in any of the top positions, according to Tom Eastler, Maine USATF racewalk coordinator.

Her long-distance training in Maine and her altitude training recently with U.S. Olympians Tim Seaman and Kevin Eastler and the Norwegian National Racewalk Team at Flagstaff, Ariz., have paid off, Eastler said.

For the last several years, Forgues has been following a strict plan to get herself to the 2012 Olympic Games, and she is on schedule, according to Eastler.

She will not expect to walk an “A” standard (1:33:30) or a “B” standard (1:38) at the trials in July, so she will not make the Olympic Team this time around, but her steady improvement, her young age and her positive and aggressive training ethic will most likely put her in good position to make the U.S. Olympic Team in 2012 if she stays healthy and avoids injuries, Eastler added.