Olympic Marathon Top Americans: Dakotah Lindwurm Shines

The American women had a mixed bag at the Paris Olympic Marathon on Sunday morning.

Dakotah Lindwurm led the charge, finishing in 12th place in 2:26:44. Emily Sisson ran 2:29:53 for 23rd place.

Fiona O’Keeffe, the Olympic Trials champion, dropped out of the race before the first 5K split due to injury.

Lindwurm’s performance is impressive—she came into the race with the slowest PR among the U.S. contingent, and she ran a confident race. At the half marathon mark, she was in third place overall, and she briefly took the lead during mile 15. She slowed slightly during the hilliest section of the course but held her spot in the top 15.

Going up the first major hill of the course, Lindwurm felt strong. “And by the time we turned to Versailles, I was like, did I just take out like a Mario Kart shortcut or something because I was in the lead,” she said. “I didn’t know how. So that was pretty cool. And then, man, I mean, they closed hard.”

Lindwurm said she tried to maintain a steady pace, whereas her competitors were “yo yo ing.” She didn’t put in any kind of move to grab the lead.

Sisson raced less aggressively than Lindwurm and couldn’t move up. She came through halfway in 1:13:49 in 24th place, and hovered around there the rest of the race.

She said she came into the race feeling fatigued, and she has run three marathons in the past 10 months: She ran Chicago in October 2023, the U.S. trials in February, and then the Olympic Marathon today.

“I’m pretty disappointed. Pretty sad,” Sisson said. “But I don’t know. I think like there were signs my body—I think three marathons a year is too much for me.”

Sifan Hassan won the gold in 2:22:55, an Olympic record, while Tigst Assefa (silver) and Hellen Obiri (bronze) rounded out the podium.

The weather was warm and sunny in Paris. The temperature at the start line was 66 degrees and it climbed into the 70s before the one-hour mark.

Sisson, 32, entered the race as the most experienced marathoner. She owns the American record in the event—2:18:29, which she set at the 2022 Chicago Marathon—and previously held the half marathon record (1:07:11). She dropped out of the 2020 Olympic Marathon Trials, but made the Olympic team in the 10,000 meters, finishing 10th at the Tokyo Games.

The most unlikely member of the Olympic squad was Lindwurm, 29, who walked on to her Division II track team at Northern State University but has emerged as a top U.S. distance runner in recent years. She took third at the Trials in Orlando and set her personal best of 2:24:40 at the 2023 Chicago Marathon.

O’Keeffe also surprised many people at the Trials. The race was her debut at 26.2, and she ran confidently, making her move during the 19th mile winning by 31 seconds in 2:22:10. Since the Trials, she’s raced sparingly. She set a personal best in the 10,000 meters in May, but had to pull out of the NYC Mini 10K in June due to calf tightness.

American women have won three total medals at the Olympic marathon, which has been contested since 1984: Joan Benoit Samuelson won the inaugural edition, Denna Kastor took bronze at the 2004 Games, and Molly Seidel won a surprise bronze in 2021 in Tokyo.

Lindwurm had three words written on her left hand: Strong, fast, and last. Those three words summarize her mantra: “I am strong. I am fast. My speed will last.” Although she had hoped for a top-10 finish, she was thrilled to cross the finish line.

“I’m an Olympian,” she said. “And that’s really meaningful for me.”