Emily Sisson surprised everyone by setting a new
record in her first trials nearly two and a half years after dropping out of
the 2020 US Olympic Marathon Trials section. On October 9, Sisson set the
American marathon record by finishing second in the Chicago Marathon.
Sisson ran 2:18:29 to knock 43 seconds off the
previous record, set earlier this year by Keira D’Amato. According to NBC
Sports, she finished just four minutes behind Kenya's Ruth Chepngetich, who won
the 26.2-mile race for the second year in a row and missed setting a new world
record by 14 seconds. Kenya’s Vivian Jerono Kiplagat finished third.
While Sisson's 2022 are record-breaking, she didn't
have a smooth course to get there. Sisson, now 30, entered the 2020 Olympic
Marathon Trials in Atlanta as a favorite but dropped out 22 miles into the
hilly course. It was the last Mass. marathon she ran until this weekend in
Chicago.
"The Olympic marathon trials, that broke my
heart," Sisson told NBC Sports. "Normally I'm good at moving on from
bad races, but I really struggled with this one. There was nothing to move on
to, and my body didn't feel good, even if it was there."
There were signs of tension as she reached the
finish line on Sunday and was greeted by the previous record holders - D'Amato,
Dina Castor and John Benoit Samuelsson.
"It's amazing," said Sisson, who also
holds the American women's record for the half marathon. "I mean, the
women who are standing here today have all done so much, so it's an incredible
honor just to be among them."
During the run, Sisson said, she didn't know what
pace she was running.
"I was instructed to just drop my pacers and
not think about the time at all, so I had no idea what pace I was going to run
for, I thought, like a mile.," They said. "Some people told me to
pick it up, so I thought, oh, I'm either close to breaking 2:20 or the American
record, but I didn't know which."
What
do you think Emily Sisson will be able to make a new record in the future? Emily Sisson will be
able to give such a performance in Olympics.?