MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Former West Virginia University track and cross country standout Megan Metcalfe finished 15th in the finals of the women’s 5000 meter event at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China, held at 8:40 p.m. local Beijing time, 8:40 a.m. ET time.

A native of Edmonton, Alberta, Metcalfe finished with a time of 17:06.82. She qualified for the finals after finishing 12th out of 15 overall, with a personal best time of 15:11.23, on Aug. 19.

“Megan has been battling an injured Achilles tendon for eight weeks and it has been worse since she has been in Beijing,” comments WVU Head Coach Sean Cleary. “She ran the race of her life in the semifinals but on the cool down, she couldn’t cool down because it was so bad. It’s unfortunate because the highlight of her career was three days ago at the semifinals and unfortunately she couldn’t repeat it. We’re really proud of her and of her resiliency.”

Tirunesh Diaba of Ethiopia won the gold with a time of 15:41.40 followed by Turkey’s Elvan Abeylegessee (15:42.74). Diaba’s teammate, Meseret Defar earned the bronze with a time of 15:44.17.

Metcalfe was a nine-time All-American at WVU in both cross country and track.

The race will air in the Olympic recap tonight on NBC between 8 p.m. and midnight. The race should also be available to watch on www.nbcolympics.com 24 hours after the race has ended.