From the June 2009 issue of Runner's World
San Francisco native Shannon Rowbury, who will race in this weekend's Prefontaine Classic, placed seventh in last year's Olympic 1500-meter final. But long before she reached Beijing, her legs powered her to a different kind of world-class competition.
"My first major competition was actually in dance. I love Irish Celtic music, and began dancing to it when I was six years old," Rowbury said. "Irish step-dancing is what they call it. I liked it more than ballet because step-dancing had competition. Ballet was a little too tame for me.
"Irish step-dancing has local, national and world competitions. When I was in fifth grade, I made it to worlds. The event was in Dublin, and it was the biggest competition I'd ever experienced to that point.
"It was a great experience, competing at that level. It might sound silly to say that a dance meet helped me reach the Olympics, but it's one of those things that you look back on and realize that there were many steps along the way that prepared you to compete on a big stage."
Shannon Rowbury's Playlist (Interview continues below)
