Foot problem derails Erin Finn’s dream to compete in Rio

Published by Jeff Seidel/Detroit Free Press on July 2nd, 2016

Imagine training for several years, dreaming of only one thing — running in the Olympic Games.

Imagine doing that while racing against a time bomb. An old, fierce, arch nemesis.

Your own injury-prone body.

Mile after mile, run after run, year after year of country roads and blisters and track intervals and pain and stress fractures and more country roads and countless races, tiny stepping stones to the ultimate prize, the Summer Olympic Games.

It was early June; and suddenly, the goal was right there within reach.

Michigan’s Erin Finn had a shot at getting to Rio in the 10,000-meter run. It was all so possible, and she started to believe it.

Then, the pain started.

First, in her big toe.

She dealt with it. Pain is nothing new to Finn. She has had countless injuries in her career. As a freshman at West Bloomfield, she broke her left tibia while running cross-country. Then, she suffered a stress fracture on the head of her femur.

In 2014, while running for Michigan, she had a stress fracture in the second metatarsal in her foot.