American Molly Seidel, the women’s winner in the 2020 virtual AJC Peachtree Road Race, ran to the bronze medal in the women’s marathon at the Olympics in Sapporo, Japan, Saturday.
Seidel, 27, became the first woman from the United States to win an Olympic marathon medal since Deena Kastor (bronze) in 2004.
Peres Jepchirchir led a 1-2 Kenyan finish, withstanding the heat and humidity while running through the streets of Sapporo.
Seidel, who was born in Brookfield, Wisconsin, and attended Notre Dame, wore a turkey suit when she recorded the fastest time for a woman in the 2020 virtual AJC Peachtree on Thanksgiving morning on Cranberry Island, Maine.
She finished second in the 2020 Olympic Trails in Atlanta, earning a spot in the Games. But they were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Seidel won the Publix Atlanta Half Marathon at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton on February 28, 2021.
Now she owns a medal from the Olympics.
Seidel said she pretty much forecasted this day since she was a kid. On Instagram, she wrote: “Other kids wanted to be astronauts or firefighters; I wanted to be a runner. Even on the hardest days I try to remember how blessed I am to do the thing my 10-yr-old self only dreamed about.”
She screamed when she crossed the finish line and said “Hi, mom and dad,” into the camera.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Jepchirchir crossed the line in a winning time of 2 hours, 27 minutes, 20 seconds in a race moved up an hour to avoid the heat. A smattering of fans lining the course applauded as the Tokyo Games went north for the marathons and race walks. Her teammate Brigid Kosgei was second.
A race that was moved to Sapporo to avoid the extreme heat and humidity in Tokyo found little relief on a winding course through the city. The starter’s gun went off a minute after 6 a.m. local time under sunny skies and with a temperature reading of 77 degrees Fahrenheit (25 Celsius). It climbed to nearly 86 degrees (30) near the finish, with a humidity of around 65%.
There were 88 runners entered in the field and more than a dozen recorded a did not finish. That included world champion Ruth Chepngetich of Kenya. The weather appeared to take its toll on Lonah Salpeter of Israel late in the race. Among the final four with around four kilometers to go, she suddenly stopped and walked to the side of the road. She still finished.
Volunteers wearing yellow shirts stood along the course with signs that loosely translated into: “Refrain from watching here.” But spectators lined the course anyway, sneaking a rare glimpse of the action at these Olympics where fans have been shut out due to coronavirus restrictions.
The runners tried to stay cool any way possible. Aleksandra Liswoska of Poland grabbed an entire bag filled with water at one stop, quickly drinking one and then pouring another over her head. Andrea Deelstra of the Netherlands had a bag of ice perched on top of her head.
Aliphine Tuliamuk of the United States was returning after giving birth to her daughter in January. She didn’t finish.
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