Flanagan eyes 5K or 10K at Beijing after US record run

Shalane Flanagan, who smashed the American record at 10,000 meters, said Monday she is now divided over whether to run the 5,000 or 10,000 at next month's US Olympic Track and Field Trials.

Flanagan made an impressive 10,000m debut Sunday, clocking 30min 34.49sec to win at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational meet with Kim Smith second in 30:35.54, slicing 45 seconds off her New Zealand record set here last year.

With August's Beijing Olympics looming, Flanagan has erased Deena Kastor's old American mark of 30:50.32. But she might run the 5,000 as planned earlier.

"I really enjoy the 5k," Flanagan said. "We'll have to sit down and look at where my best chances to medal are. They are very different races.

"For me and my more speed-oriented training, it felt really nice until the last few laps when it was really uncomfortable. I just don't know right now. I don't know where I stack up against other people.

"Wherever I stand the best chance of medaling and representing my country well" is where she will run.

The 10,000m world record is held by China's Wang Junxia, coached by the doping-tainted Ma Junren, who ran 29:31.78 in 1993.