Runner wins Olympic ticket on first marathon run

America In her first run of 42.195 km, 25-year-old runner Fiona O'Keeffe broke the US Olympic Trials record to win a ticket to Paris 2024.

On the track in Orlando on February 3, O'Keeffe finished first in 2 hours, 22 minutes and 10 seconds to break the Olympic Trials record - the qualifying round for the U.S. Olympic marathon team. The previous women's record was held by Shalane Flanagan with 2 hours, 25 minutes and 38 seconds set in Houston in 2012.

Fiona O'Keeffe wins 2024 Olympic Trials.

Emily Sisson, the US women's marathon record holder at 2:18:29, and Dakotah Lindwurm finished behind O'Keeffe. The top three also complete the US women's team for Paris 2024.

"I didn't think I'd run this well," O'Keeffe said after her win that secured her place in Paris this summer. "I had to pinch myself in the last 10km and tell myself to calm down."

O'Keeffe, born in 1998, mainly runs 5,000m and 10,000m. But she caused a surprise in Orlando last weekend, becoming the youngest female athlete ever to win the Olympic Trials and the first female athlete to win the event in her first marathon.

O'Keeffe broke away from the pack after 30km and finished 32 seconds ahead of Sisson, who will be making his second Olympics after running the 10,000m at Tokyo 2021. "It was very exciting," O'Keeffe said of the emotions of the sprint. "I started hearing people say, 'You're going to Paris'. But I knew there were a lot of strong runners behind me and I was a little nervous."

Fiona O’Keeffe in the moment of winning the Olympic Trials in Orlando, USA on February 3. Photo: USA Track & Field — Fiona O'Keeffe in the moment of winning the Olympic Trials in Orlando, USA on February 3. Photo: *USA Track & Field*

O'Keeffe will receive $80,000 for winning the Olympic Trials. Sisson will receive $65,000 and Lindwurm will receive $55,000. The prize money is on par with the World Marathon Majors. The Boston champion will receive $150,000, while the prize money for a similar position in Chicago and New York is $100,000, Tokyo is $96,800, London is $53,200, and Berlin is $22,600.

In the men's U.S. Olympic Trials, Conner Mantz and Clayton Young, training partners and close friends, celebrated with the crowd as they crossed the finish line. Mantz finished first in 2:09:05, while Young gave way near the end and finished a second behind. Leonard Korir finished third in 2:09:57.

Hong Duy

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