Tough conditions leveled the fieldĭespite the relocation of the marathon from Tokyo to Sapporo and the decision, the night before, to start it an hour earlier, conditions were still hot and humid. Zooming out, there was ample evidence to back up that inner glimmer. “So I think there was maybe like a little glint in the back of my mind, okay, maybe we can do this,” she said. But for her birthday, her sister gave her a bracelet knitted with “USA” she’d put it on and vowed not to take it off until she won a medal. Until now, no other American woman has earned a marathon medal.Īll this factored into Seidel’s tempered expectations. Joan Benoit Samuelson won gold in Los Angeles, then Kastor won her bronze in 2004. The first time women competed in the marathon distance at the Olympics was in 1984. Few American women have reached the marathon podium And aside from a slight swell between the 5K and 10K mark, the course was relatively flat. The temperature was 78 degrees, with 83 percent humidity. Amid COVID-19 concerns, spectators were discouraged. Saturday morning in Sapporo couldn’t have been more different. Roaring crowds packed the looped course, which tested the runners with 1,389 feet of uphill and 1,382 feet of downhill. The Trials were held on a brisk February day in Atlanta, with wind gusts of up to 20 miles per hour. (Kosgei ended up winning silver in Sapporo, in 2:27:36.) Two-time world half marathon champion Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya won the race in 2:27:20 Her impressive Trials run came in opposite conditions That included world record holder Brigid Kosgei, who ran 2:14:04 at the 2019 Chicago Marathon. But eight women on the starting line had personal bests faster than 2:20. Seidel improved on her 2:27:31 performance at the Trials in the London Marathon last October, where she ran 2:25:13.
Plus, successfully withstanding nearly two and a half hours of pounding gives you confidence to persist through rough patches in future races, Kastor said. Competing over such a long distance requires a precise calibration of effort, along with skill at techniques like running tangents to minimize any excess distance. The event typically takes some time to master, said Kastor, who’d run four marathons by the time she went to Athens.
The 2020 Olympic Marathon Trials, where she qualified, was her debut at the distance. If you watched or read anything about Seidel’s race afterward, you probably heard the Olympic race was only her third marathon. Photo credit: Ramsey Cardy - Getty Images
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