Issaquah native and UW senior Julia David-Smith wins WUG 5000m for France Saturday...

BOCHUM, Germany--Washington's Julia David-Smith (screenshot courtesy FISU) patiently waited until the last 300 meters to move into the lead en route to winning the women's 5000 meters Saturday night at the FISU World University Games on the penultimate night of competition at the Lohrheidestadion.

Once the gun went off, the Washington rising senior, running in her third 5000 meter race in six days, was content to stay in the middle of the lead pack and let the others in the field take the lead.

With 1000 meters to go, the Issaquah HS graduate started working her way towards the front, as a group of five started to make a breakaway.

At the bell, David-Smith found herself in second place with a legitimate shot at a medal of any color.

The decision to wait and let the rest of the field do the work paid dividends with 300 meters to go, she found an opening and sprinted to the front, opening up a gap of about 8 meters on her pursuers.

David-Smith, whose mother is a French citizen, crossed the line with the victory and a new lifetime best of 15:34.47, ahead of the silver medalist Seema Seema of India, who finished in 15:35.86, and bronze medalist Emily Parker of Great Britain's 15:36.12.

For JD-S, the time eclipsed her previous personal best of 15:39.97 set last month in Carquefou, France.

The FISU World University Games track and field competition concludes Sunday with Washington's Amina Maatoug of the Netherlands and Maggie Liebich racing in the finals of the women's 1500 at 3 am Pacific (noon local time).

Streaming coverage of the FISU World University games is available in the United States at FISU.tv (may be geoblocked in other countries).

The home page of the FISU World University Games, which encompasses several sports, is available here (click on Athletics, and the date).

NOTE: The FISU World University Games and the sports information office of the University of Washington contributed to this report.

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