View source for Shelly Steely

{{Short description|American athlete}}
{{Infobox sportsperson
| headercolor    = 
| name           = Shelly Steely
|image           = <!-- Only free-content images are allowed for depicting living people -- see [[WP:NONFREE]]. --> 
| imagesize      = <!--Only for images narrower than 220 pixels.-->
| caption        = 
| birth_name     = Anne Rochelle Steely
| fullname       = 
| nickname       = "Shelly"
| nationality    = {{USA}}
| residence      = 
| birth_date     = {{Birth date and age|1962|10|23|mf=y}}
| birth_place    = [[Reading, Pennsylvania]]
| death_date     = 
| death_place    = 
| height         = {{convert|121|lbs|kg|abbr=on}}
| weight         = {{convert|5|ft|7|in|m|abbr=on}}
| website        = 
| country        = 
| sport          = [[Track and field]]
| event          = [[Cross country running]], [[10,000 meters]], [[5,000 meters]], [[3,000 meters]], [[1,500 meters]]
| collegeteam    = [[Florida Gators track and field|University of Florida]]
| club           = Mizuno Track Club
| team           = 
| turnedpro      = 
| coach          = 
| retired        = 
| coaching       = 
| worlds         = 
| regionals      = 
| nationals      = 
| olympics       = 
| highestranking = 
| pb             = 
| show-medals    = no
| medaltemplates = 
{{MedalSport  | Women's [[Athletics (sport)|athletics]]}}
{{MedalCountry| the {{USA}} }}
{{MedalCompetition|[[IAAF World Cross Country Championships|World Cross Country Championships]]}}
{{MedalGold |[[1985 IAAF World Cross Country Championships|1985 Lisbon]]|Team long race}}
}}

'''Anne Rochelle Steely Ramirez''' (born October 23, 1962), née '''Anne Rochelle Steely''', is a former [[long-distance runner]] who competed internationally for the United States.  She specialized in the [[3,000 meters]] on the [[track and field|track]] and later competed in [[road running]] events.

She made her international debut in [[cross country running|cross country]] and helped the United States the women's team title at the [[IAAF World Cross Country Championships]] in 1985.  Her focus changed to the 3,000 meters, a distance in which she was a two-time US champion (outdoors in 1991 and indoors in 1992). She reached the final of that event at the [[1991 World Championships in Athletics]] and the [[1992 Barcelona Olympics]].

Steely's performances deteriorated and she was diagnosed with [[hyperthyroidism]]. However, she made an athletic comeback in 1998 and she won two national road titles, as well as appearing at the [[Goodwill Games]] and [[IAAF World Half Marathon Championships]] that year. She made one more appearance at the World Half Marathon event in 2000, but retired to focus on education studies.

==Career==

===Early life and college career===
Steely was born in [[Reading, Pennsylvania]],<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200418115736/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/st/shelly-steely-1.html Shelly Steely]. Sports-Reference. Retrieved on April 11, 2011.</ref> and attended [[Conwell-Egan Catholic High School|Bishop Conwell High School]] in [[Levittown, Pennsylvania]].  She received an athletic scholarship to attend the [[University of Florida]] in Gainesville, Florida, where she ran for the [[Florida Gators track and field]] team in [[National Collegiate Athletic Association]] (NCAA) competition. Steely was fifth in the [[10,000 meters]] at the [[NCAA Outdoor Women's Track and Field Championship|NCAA Outdoors]] in 1983, but found greater success over shorter distances the following year: she won both the [[5000 meters]] and [[3000 meters]] [[Southeastern Conference]] (SEC) titles. She was third in the 3,000 meters at the 1984 NCAA Outdoors and made two podium finishes at the [[USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships]] (third over 5,000 meters, second over 3,000 meters). She also reached the semi-finals of the [[US Olympic Track and Field Trials]] that year.<ref name=USATF>[http://www.usatf.org/athletes/bios/TrackAndFieldArchive/2000/steely.html Shelly Steely]. [[USATF]]. Retrieved on April 10, 2011.</ref>

In her final year at Florida, she took a sweep of the SEC long-distance titles, winning the 3,000, 5,000 and 10,000-meter distance races.  During her time as a Gator runner, she won five [[All-America]]n honors and nine All-SEC honors,<ref name=USATF/> and was later inducted into the [[List of University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame members|University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame]] as a "Gator Great" in 2006.<ref>F Club, Hall of Fame, [http://www.gatorfclub.org/hall-of-fame/greats  Gator Greats].  Retrieved December 18, 2014.</ref><ref>Robbie Andreu, "[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=dPRPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=QwkEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6757,1825513&dq=gators+hall-of-fame&hl=en  Wuerffel, Doering to enter UF Hall]," ''Ocala Star-Banner'' (April 21, 2006).  Retrieved July 22, 2011.</ref>

Steely made her international debut for the United States in 1985, and her fifteenth-place finish at the [[1985 IAAF World Cross Country Championships]] helped the American women (including [[Cathy Branta]] and [[Betty Springs]]) to the long race team title. She made two more appearances at that competition, taking part in the 1989 and 1990 editions.<ref>[http://www.iaaf.org/athletes/biographies/country=0/athcode=61801/index.html Steely Shelly]. [[IAAF]]. Retrieved on April 11, 2011.</ref> She also competed on the international [[cross country running|cross country]] circuit in Europe, including a win at the [[Cross Internacional de Venta de Baños]].<ref>[http://www.pmdeportesventadebanos.com/crossXXVI/historia.pdf Podium Cross Internacional] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715094805/http://www.pmdeportesventadebanos.com/crossXXVI/historia.pdf |date=2011-07-15 }} ''(List of medallists)''. Venta de Baños. Retrieved on April 11, 2011.</ref>

===World and Olympic competition===
She began training in [[New Mexico]] and improved her best times in the 3,000 and 5,000 meters in 1990, and was ranked highly at the national level.<ref name=USATF/> She began to expand her oeuvre to include [[road running]] and that year she took wins at the [[Cooper River Bridge Run]] and [[Great Cow Harbor 10K]] races,<ref>Jaggers, Cedric (2011-04-04). [https://www.arrs.run/HP_CRB10.htm Cooper River Bridge Run 10 km]. [[Association of Road Racing Statisticians]]. Retrieved on 2011-04-11.</ref><ref>Wood, Jerry (2010-09-28). [https://www.arrs.run/HP_GCH10.htm Great Cow Harbor 10 km]. [[Association of Road Racing Statisticians]]. Retrieved on 2011-04-11.</ref> as well as shorter distance wins at the [[Fifth Season Race]] and the [[Jean Bouin Memorial]] in Spain.<ref>Murdock, Carl (2010-07-06). [https://www.arrs.run/HP_FSn8.htm Fifth Season 8 km]. [[Association of Road Racing Statisticians]]. Retrieved on 2011-04-11.</ref><ref>Civai, Franco & Gasparovic, Juraj (2010-11-22). [https://www.arrs.run/HP_JnBo9.htm Jean Bouin Memorial 9.5 km (men) + 6.45 km (women)]. [[Association of Road Racing Statisticians]]. Retrieved on 2011-04-11.</ref> The following year saw her make a career breakthrough on the [[track and field|track]]. She won the national title in the 3,000 meters with a significant personal best run of 8:49.00 minutes.<ref>[https://www.arrs.run/NC_O5KUSA.htm National Outdoor 5000m Championships for the United States]. [[Association of Road Racing Statisticians]] (2010-06-30). Retrieved on 2011-04-11.</ref> This gained her a place on the national team for the [[1991 World Championships in Athletics]]. Steely ran a personal record of 8:48.54 minutes in the qualifying rounds, only finishing behind two eventual medalists ([[Susan Sirma]] and [[Yelena Romanova]]).<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20010222140256/http://www.iaaf.org/Results/Past/WCH91/data/W/3000/Rh.html 1991 World Championships - Women's 3000 metres heats]. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-04-11.</ref> She did not perform as well in the final, however, and ended the competition in fourteenth place.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20010222140356/http://www.iaaf.org/Results/Past/WCH91/data/W/3000/Rf.html 1991 World Championships - Women's 3000 metres final]. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-04-11.</ref> She ended her season with road wins at the Phoenix 10K and Senior Bowl 10K.<ref>[https://www.arrs.run/HP_Phx10.htm New Times Phoenix 10 km]. [[Association of Road Racing Statisticians]]. Retrieved on 2011-04-11.</ref><ref>[https://www.arrs.run/HP_Sen10.htm Senior Bowl 10 km]. [[Association of Road Racing Statisticians]]. Retrieved on 2011-04-11.</ref>

She claimed her second national title at the start of the following year, winning the 3,000 meters at the [[USA Indoor Track and Field Championships]] with a time of 8:51.29 minutes.<ref>Gasparovic, Juraj (2011-03-23). [https://www.arrs.run/NC_I3KUSA.htm National Indoor 3000m Championships for the United States]. [[Association of Road Racing Statisticians]]. Retrieved on 2011-04-11.</ref> A third title followed on the roads that May as she took the 5,000 meters U.S. title in [[Cedar Rapids, Iowa]].<ref>[https://www.arrs.run/NC_RoadUSA.htm National Road Champions for the United States]. [[Association of Road Racing Statisticians]] (2011-03-15). Retrieved on 2011-04-11.</ref> In the outdoor season she ran a career best time of 8:41.28&nbsp;minutes for the 3,000 meters and her runner-up placing at the Olympic Trials saw her make the [[United States at the Olympics|US Olympic Team]] for the first time. At the [[Athletics at the 1992 Summer Olympics|1992 Barcelona Olympics]], both Steely and [[PattiSue Plumer]] (the trials winner) made the event final and Steely came seventh, two spots behind her compatriot.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200417172853/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1992/ATH/womens-3000-metres-final.html Athletics at the 1992 Barcelona Summer Games: Women's 3,000 metres Final]. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2011-04-11.</ref>

===Switch to roads and retirement===
She won the [[Carlsbad 5000]] the following March.<ref>Wolf, Bob (1993-03-29). [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-03-29-sp-16441-story.html RUNNING : Hanneck, Steely Winners in Carlsbad 5000]. ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''. Retrieved on 2011-04-11.</ref> Steely was the 1993 USA Outdoor runner-up in the 3,000 meters but was replaced in the national team for the [[1993 World Championships in Athletics]]. Her performances waned over the next three years and she did not compete at all in 1996. She was later diagnosed with a [[hyperthyroid condition]].<ref name=USATF/>

Steely returned to compete in 1998 and ran frequently, mainly out of necessity as she no longer had a [[commercial sponsor|sponsor]]. She was in the top three at the 1998 USA Outdoors in the 10,000 meters, came fourth in the event at the [[Athletics at the 1998 Goodwill Games|1998 Goodwill Games]], and ranked second nationally in the distance that year. She won the US titles in the 25-kilometer and 10-mile events that year,<ref>James, Bud (2010-09-07). [https://www.arrs.run/HP_PkF10.htm Park Forest Scenic 10 mile]. [[Association of Road Racing Statisticians]] . Retrieved on 2011-04-11.</ref> as well as runner-up placing in the national 12-kilometer and [[half marathon]] events. Her performance over the latter distance gained her a spot at the [[1998 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships]], where she placed 42nd overall.<ref name=USATF/>

She ran in the 10,000 meters at the 1999 USA Outdoor Championships (coming fifth) and competed at the [[2000 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships]]. However, she moved on from her athletic career to focus on obtaining an [[Educational specialist]] degree.<ref name=USATF/>

==Personal bests==

*1500 m – 4:05.07 mins (1992)
*3000 m – 8:41.28 mins (1992)
*5000 m – 15:08.67 mins (1992)
*10,000 m – 32:41.14 mins (1990)
*Half marathon – 1:13:33 hrs (1998)

==International competition record==
{| {{AchievementTable}}
|-
|rowspan=2|1985
|rowspan=2|[[1985 IAAF World Cross Country Championships|World Cross Country Championships]]
|rowspan=2|[[Lisbon]], Portugal
|15th
|Long race
|-
|bgcolor=gold|1st
|Team race
|-
|1989
|[[1989 IAAF World Cross Country Championships|World Cross Country Championships]]
|[[Stavanger]], Norway
|86th
|Long race
|-
|1990
|[[1990 IAAF World Cross Country Championships|World Cross Country Championships]]
|[[Aix-les-Bains]], France
|44th
|Long race
|-
|1991
|[[1991 World Championships in Athletics|World Championships]]
|[[Tokyo]], Japan
|14th
|[[1991 World Championships in Athletics – Women's 3000 metres|3000 m]]
|-
|1992
|[[Athletics at the 1992 Summer Olympics|Olympic Games]]
|[[Barcelona]], Spain
|7th
|[[Athletics at the 1992 Summer Olympics – Women's 3000 metres|3000 m]]
|-
|rowspan=2|1998
|[[Athletics at the 1998 Goodwill Games|Goodwill Games]]
|[[Uniondale, New York|Uniondale]], United States
|4th
|10,000 m
|-
|[[1998 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships|World Half Marathon Championships]]
|[[Uster]], Switzerland
|42nd
|Half marathon
|-
|2000
|[[2000 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships|World Half Marathon Championships]]
|[[Veracruz, Veracruz|Veracruz]], Mexico
|35th
|Mexico
|}

== See also ==

{{Portal|Biography|Olympics}}
* [[Florida Gators]]
* [[List of University of Florida alumni]]
* [[List of University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame members]]
* [[List of University of Florida Olympians]]
{{Clear}}

== References ==

{{Reflist}}

== External links ==

* {{World Athletics}}

{{Footer US NC 3000m Women}}
{{Footer US NC 5K run Women}}
{{Footer US NC Indoor Mile Women}}
{{Footer US NC Indoor 3000 meters Women}}
{{Footer USA Track & Field 1992 Summer Olympics}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Steely, Shelly}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:1962 births]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Reading, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Track and field athletes from Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:American female long-distance runners]]
[[Category:American female middle-distance runners]]
[[Category:American female cross country runners]]
[[Category:Olympic track and field athletes for the United States]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Pan American Games track and field athletes for the United States]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1999 Pan American Games]]
[[Category:Florida Gators women's cross country runners]]
[[Category:Florida Gators women's track and field athletes]]
[[Category:Competitors at the 1998 Goodwill Games]]