Jenny Simpson is the type of athlete you want to root for. She's humble, respectful, and super talented. On Monday night in front of a packed London Stadium at the World Championships, Simpson secured the women's 1,500m silver medal in dramatic fashion.
Simpson, won her 4th USA 1,500m Championship in June, was in fourth and just out of medal contention with 200 meters to go. The battle appeared to be between Faith Chepngetich Kipeygon, Sifan Hassan, and Laura Muir. Hassan moved slightly to her right with 50 meters to go creating an opening that let the former Oviedo High School standout surge past them on the inside and capture her fourth global Championship medal in 4:02.76.
"As usual Jenny's composure on the greatest stage helped propel her to another fantastic finish," high school coach Jay Getty said. "I have watched the final 100 meters about ten times now, showed it at practice today and pointed out how smooth and clean her form was to the line while the other competitors were all over the place."
Getty has seen that composure in Jenny for many years dating back to her state championship days at Oviedo.
"In high school, one item that we always tried to focus on is "Relax to Run Fast,". he added. "A part of that was evident today. I'm so happy for her to see the reward of the work that she has put in to be successful. She's a great role model for today's youth."
Simpson adds the silver medal to her collection along with her 2011 World Championships gold medal, 2013 World Championships bronze, and 2016 Olympic bronze. Four medals in the sports largest stages over the last six years is truly an accomplishment
"She is the definition of grace under pressure as she thrives on the big stage," Getty said. "Jen is the face of the clean racing generation that is capable of pushing the sport to new levels. When we look back at her career legacy that will continue to grow, she is simply the best of her generation"
He went onto say humble, kind, generous, and joyful are words he would use to describe Jenny.
"Her love of racing is so evident in her post race moments of exuberance," he added. "I hope that more of our high school athletes will try to emulate that part of her persona on the track. Racing is the fun part that makes the training worth it, embrace it and don't be afraid to see the rewards of happily attacking the race."
