BEIJING -- After finishing third at the World Championships last year, Kara Goucher came to these Olympics with high expectations.

"I'm crazy. I thought I could win," the University of Colorado graduate said just minutes after placing 10th in the women's 10,000-meter run here Friday night.

While it was disappointment for Goucher, it was happiness for Shalane Flanagan.

Flanagan, who was born in Boulder, won the bronze medal despite finishing 26 seconds behind runner-up Elvan Abeylegesse of Turkey.

Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia won the race in an Olympic record time of 29:54.66, followed by Abeylegesse at 29:56.34 and Flanagan at 30:22.22.

After crossing the finish line, Flanagan held up three inquisitive fingers, unsure where she had placed.

"I had no idea what place was what because we were lapping people. I thought I had finished third, but I didn't want to celebrate too soon because I thought maybe I was fourth," she said.

Goucher, on the other hand, didn't really want to know her finish

Her 10th-place time was 30:55.16.

"I think I'm better than that," she said. "I don't run to be 10th in the Olympics. I didn't race well today. I'm disappointed. I think I let a lot of people down."

Goucher admitted slowing down when she knew she was out of contention.

"I'm not saying I would have done any better, but I definitely did not risk it. And that was my only goal for the race, to risk it" she said.

"I still had the 5K coming up, but I didn't make a decision because I was going to shut it down and save myself for the 5K. It was a weak decision. It was weakness."