U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials winner Fiona O’Keeffe dropped out of the Olympic Marathon before the 5K mark on Sunday morning.
O’Keeffe, 26, started the race toward the back of the pack, according to NBC’s Kara Goucher, and she was quickly behind the group in the race’s opening minutes.
Her coach, Alistar Cragg, told LetsRun’s Jonathan Gault that she was injured, but they’re unclear on the details. She reportedly had been dealing with “hip flexor tightness” that started a week ago.
Early this week, the Olympic alternate, Jess McClain, received a call informing her that she may be needed to step in for an unnamed member of the team. McClain flew to Paris, arriving on August 7, but was ultimately told she would most likely not be needed to race.
O’Keeffe was the breakout star of February’s Olympic Trials in Orlando, Florida. The race was her Olympic debut, and she showed a natural ability for the distance, taking the lead in the 19th mile and crossing the line in first in a Trials record of 2:22:10.
O’Keeffe trains with Puma Elite Running Team and is based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. She was a standout at Stanford University, garnering All-American honors six times.
It’s not unheard of for athletes to start Olympic races, including the marathon, if they’re not 100 percent. While the details of athlete shoe contracts are confidential, it is thought that performance bonuses reward athletes for becoming an Olympian. It is likely that some companies require athletes to start their race at the Games to earn that title.
In 2012, Des Linden started the London Olympic marathon but dropped out after two miles. She had experienced hip pain in the weeks leading up, and framed the race as a dress rehearsal for the 2016 Games, where she would place seventh. She told Runner’s World in 2020, “The dress rehearsal part was super important, and it could also be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I wouldn’t fault anybody who was in that position.”
Australia’s Sinead Diver, 47, also dropped out of Sunday’s marathon before the 5K split.
Theo Kahler is the news editor for Runner’s World. He is a former all-conference collegiate runner who’s based in Easton, PA. Previously, he worked as the newsletters editor at Runner’s World, Bicycling, and Popular Mechanics.
