Olympic bronze medalist Molly Seidel is one of several standout American women planning to run the New York City Marathon in November, race organisers announced on Wednesday.
Seidel stunned even herself with a third-place finish in Tokyo this month in just the third 26.2-mile race of her career. An NCAA Division I champion at Notre Dame in the 3,000, 5,000 and 10,000 meter events, she is now the headliner for the NYC Marathon's 50th running in her five-borough debut.
"Since the beginning of 2021, I've had two races circled on my calendar: the Olympic Games' marathon on Aug. 7 and the TCS New York City Marathon on November 7," said Seidel, 27, who grew up in Wisconsin.
"Winning the bronze medal in Sapporo showed that I can run with the best in the world, and on any given day, anything is possible." Fellow US Olympians Aliphine Tuliamuk, Sally Kipyego and Emily Sisson will also be in the field, along with 2018 Boston Marathon winner Des Linden.
Four-time champion Mary Keitany of Kenya won't participate for the first time since 2013.
The men's professional field has not yet been announced.
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The 2020 NYC Marathon was cancelled by the pandemic, but Governor Andrew Cuomo announced in June that the 2021 race would go on — albeit with a field limited to about 33,000 entrants, down from 55,000 in 2019.
Tuliamuk, who was born in Kenya, won the 2020 US Olympic marathon trials in Atlanta four years after gaining American citizenship. She gave birth to a daughter in January 2021 but still competed in Tokyo. She dropped out near the 20-kilometer mark.
"I want to inspire people, most importantly my daughter, to chase their dreams," she said in a statement released by the NYC Marathon.
"I'm a different athlete and person than I was the last time I ran the TCS New York City Marathon in 2019, so why not fulfill one more dream on November 7?" Tatyana McFadden is pursuing a record sixth NYC Marathon title in the wheelchair division but hasn't won since 2016.
The international field of competitors will be announced later.
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