TOKYO, Japan — University of Notre Dame graduate Molly Seidel has won a bronze medal in her first Olympics in the women's marathon event.
Seidel led the pack through much of the middle stages of the race, before a pair of Kenyan runners opened a gap. Seidel held steady and finished third with a time of 2:27:46 in what was just her third marathon ever.
She is just the third American woman to medal in the Olympics marathon.
The 2016 college graduate raced against 87 other women in the event. The start of the race was moved up an hour due to extreme heat.
Seidel has spent time in Flagstaff for altitude training, she told ESPN in 2020.
She is ranked No. 199 in the world, and her personal best time is 2:25:13.
Seidel finished second in the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials with a time of 2:27:31.
Olympics
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