Molly Seidel Team USA Tokyo Summer Olympics Marathon
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In just her third official marathon, Team USA's Molly Seidel won a bronze medal in the women's marathon event with a time of 2:27.46. Seidel's bronze was the first medal for an American woman in the event since Deena Kastor won a bronze medal in 2004.

In addition, Seidel's bronze medal was just the third medal overall for an American woman in the women's marathon event. Kenya's Peres Jepchirchir (2:27.20) and Brigid Kosgei (2:27.36) finished a minute ahead of Seidel.

"I can't believe it. Just getting here was a dream come true," Seidel told NBC following the race. "This is not just me. This is my family, this is my coach, this is everyone who's trained with me. I just can't believe this right now. I'm so grateful for everyone who got me here and I'm so happy."

Seidel was a four-time NCAA cross country national champion when she attended Notre Dame. She also competed at the United States Olympic trials and qualified for the Tokyo Olympics. 

The COVID-19 pandemic was a huge setback for many athletes, but actually proved to be a positive for Seidel. Seidel even got in another an additional marathon as she competed in the 2020 London Marathon and finished in sixth place.