Newcomer O'Keeffe Runs Away From Veteran Women's Field To Win Olympic Trials Race By 32 Seconds

By David Woods for DyeStat

Photos by David Hicks

ORLANDO, Fla. – Fiona O’Keeffe became the first woman to win the Olympic Trials in her marathon debut, running away from the deepest American field ever assembled Saturday. 

The 25-year-old Stanford graduate from Davis, Calif., made her first Olympic team as well.

O’Keeffe was not merely better than the rest. She was dominant.

She finished in 2 hours, 22 minutes, 10 seconds on a sun-baked Saturday.  Emily Sisson was second in 2:22.42 and Dakotah Lindwurm third in 2:25:31.

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All were under the trials record of 2:25:38 set by Shalane Flanagan in 2012.

O’Keeffe has been told since high school that marathon would be her distance. One of her coaches now is Amy Cragg, the 2016 trials marathon champion. O’Keeffe was sixth at 5,000 meters at the 2022 USATF Outdoor Championships, but missed the 2023 nationals because of an ankle infection.

Even as she pulled away, she suppressed celebration.

“I started to hear people say, ‘You’re going to Paris, you’re going to Paris,’ “ she said. “I knew there were some strong people behind me, and I was running scared.”

She made it three trials in a row in which a first-time marathoner made an Olympic team, following Galen Rupp in 2016 and Molly Seidel in 2020. The latter two won medals at Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo, respectively.

O’Keeffe qualified for the trials via a 1:09:34 half-marathon. At this half-marathon mark, she and Lindwurm were among a group of 11 led by Keira D’Amato in 1:11:34.

With a 5:16 17th mile, the fastest of the race, O’Keeffe went in front, albeit still amidst a pack.

“I guess it felt right,” she said. “Maybe a little of not knowing what I was getting into.”

By 18 miles, the lead group was down to O’Keeffe, Sisson, Sara Hall, Betsy Saina and Emily Durgin. After miles of 5:22 and 5:20, O’Keefe had pulled ahead of second-place Sisson by 10 seconds.

Sisson, 32, whose 2:18:29 from Chicago 2022 is fastest ever by an American, conceded she struggled earlier than expected. She saw Olympic bronze medalist Deena Kastor in the lead vehicle and thought of Kastor’s book, Let Your Mind Run: A Memoir of Thinking My Way to Victory.

“I thought, ‘What would Deena do? I tried to think like Deena,” Sisson said.

Sisson was a favorite at the 2020 trials but dropped out of that race. She made the Olympic team in the 10,000 meters and finished 10th at Tokyo.

The race for the third Olympic spot was indeterminate.

Lindwurm was sixth through 20 miles, fourth at 21, and then passed Caroline Rotich to be third at 22.

“I just reminded myself it’s not over,” Lindwurm said.

Her ascension has been more improbable than O’Keeffe’s.

Lindwurm, 28, was a hockey goaltender in St. Francis, Minn. She became a walk-on runner at Division 2 Northern State (S.D.) and works as a paralegal while training with Minnesota Distance Elite.

Jessica McClain ran a four-minute PB to finish fourth in 2:25:46.

Hall, 40, was fifth in an American Masters record of 2:26:06. She has competed in eight Olympic Trials and never made an Olympic team. What about Los Angeles 2028?

“I never thought I’d be doing this at this point, so I’d never say never,” she said. “I’m just going to keep doing this as long as I’m enjoying it and improving.”

The DNFs were littered with luminaries: D’Amato, Saina, Aliphine Tuliamuk, Molly Huddle, Jenny Simpson. Seidel withdrew before the race because of a knee injury.

Contact David Woods at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007