Fiona O’Keeffe wins the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials.Photo:Mike Ehrmann/Getty
Mike Ehrmann/Getty
Fiona O’Keeffe was breaking records every step of her 26.2 miles to the finish at the2024 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trialson Saturday.
The 25-year-old —running a marathon for the first time— was a surprise winner. O’Keeffe, who had qualified for the Trials with a half marathon time, blazed ahead of more experienced women in the field, breaking away around mile 19 to finish in 2:22:10, a Trials record.
And O’Keeffe not only broke the Olympic Trials record, she also became the first woman to win the Trials in a marathon debut and the youngest to win since Joan Benoit Samuelson in 1984.
Despite leading for nearly half the race, the Puma runner said she didn’t feel like her win was a done deal.
“I started to hear people saying, ‘You’re going to Paris! You’re going to Paris!’ ” she said in the post-race press conference. “But I knew there were so many strong women behind me, and I was running scared a little bit.”
Emily Sisson, Fiona O’Keeffe and Dakotah Lindwurm.Mike Ehrmann/Getty
While O’Keeffe and Sisson weren’t challenged late in the race, Lindwurm had to fight her competitors for that final Olympic spot.
“If I’ve dreamed of this once, I’ve dreamed of it a thousand times,” she said of making the Paris team. “It almost doesn’t feel real.”
Conner Mantz breaks away from Clayton Young to win the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials.Mike Ehrmann/Getty
“It’s almost as close to a marriage as it can be,” Young said of his relationship with Mantz. “We have our disagreements sometimes. We’re very, very competitive, but not today.”
“Conner and I are better when we work together.”
Clayton Young, Leonard Korir and Conner Mantz.Mike Ehrmann/Getty
All six would be running in the Olympic marathon for the first time.
“I was not expecting this performance,” O’Keeffe told NBC after her win. “I had to pinch myself with eight miles to go and say ‘stay calm, don’t freak out.’ "
source: people.com
