In an effort to uncover those constructs identified as having impact on the development of talent in elite female athletes an instrument was developed based on the conceptual foundations established in qualitative research examining the lives of US female Olympians (Burton, VanHeest, Reis, & Rallis, in review). Those factors included relationships with family, coaches, sport and teammates (lived relations), space available for training at the elite level (lived space), time for development and opportunity to participate (lived time), and the importance of the body and the influence of injury (lived body). Elite women participating in track and field at the intercollegiate level was the initial population examined, with the goal of establishing a quantitative instrument to better evaluate what factors are necessary to foster the development of talent for female athletes. Survey development included analysis of face validity through consultation of experts in the field, including elite female track and field coaches and athletes, and faculty with expertise in talent development. The instrument was evaluated for reliability through a test-retest method using a sample population of elite female track and field athletes, questions with an alpha reliability of greater than .70 were retained in the final survey. The final survey was sent to a specifically selected population of elite female athletes competing in track and field at nationally ranked Division I universities. This sample (n=84), though not representative of all female athletes competing in track and field, represented those women who compete at an elite level. Principal components analysis in SPSS was used to identify those factors relevant to talent development for participants in this study. Results of the analysis indicate that a maximum of seven factors should be retained. A marginally adequate sample size, KMO=.626, was reported. Due to the small sample size, a more stringent interpretation of factor loadings was applied following Stevens (1996) recommendation of critical values greater than .572. A final set of three components, which contained four or more factors loadings above .60 in absolute value, was retained for interpretation (Steven, 1996). These three factors were labeled as Teammate Relations, Training Support and Sport Importance. This initial analysis lends support to the conceptual framework of those constructs important to talent development in elite female athletes. Further analysis with a larger sample is warranted to refine development of the initial survey, and to identify factors important to talent development for female athletes. Keyword(s): athletics/sports, measurement/evaluation, research