Molly Seidel out of U.S. Olympic marathon trials due to injury
Seidel finished eighth at the 2023 Chicago Marathon, but has been battling a knee injury for the last month
Photo by:
Kevin Morris
Olympic bronze-medal marathoner and fan favourite Molly Seidel has announced she will not be racing in the U.S. Olympic trials on Saturday. Seidel took to social media Thursday morning to share that an injury had caused her to pull out of trials at the last minute.
“I am just really dreading having to make this video. I decided yesterday alongside my coach that I will not be lining up for the Olympic trials marathon this coming Saturday,” said Seidel. “About a month ago my knee took a turn for the worst—I couldn’t run on it at all. I got an MRI that showed I had broken my patella and partially tore my patellar tendon.”
Since her bronze medal performance at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, 28-year-old Seidel has battled to get back to form. In 2022, she pressed pause on competition pre-World championships due to a sacral stress reaction (later diagnosed as a full sacral stress fracture).
“I have done everything in my power over this last month to try and get myself to the line,” she said on Thursday. “I have just the most incredible physios and doctors doing everything in their power to help me. I have been cross-training my ass off but ultimately I got to this week and my knee had not healed up enough and I knew that I could not race a marathon hard on it in its current state without really injuring myself more.”
“I am really f*cking bummed. There is no other word for it—I have dreamed about making this team and defending my bronze medal at the Paris Olympics since the last Olympics.”
At the 2023 Chicago Marathon on Oct. 8, Seidel finished eighth, in 2:23:07, in her first marathon since April 2022 (she took fourth place finish at the 2021 NYC Marathon). Seidel, paced by Canadian distance champ Rory Linkletter, was the second American woman (behind Emily Sisson, who finished seventh in 2:22:09). “It was so powerful finishing that last mile just because it has been a really difficult last few years,” Seidel said post-race to Olympics.com. “It’s been a lot, and I’ve worked really, really hard to get back to this, and to just be a better person overall.”
Along with the physical injuries Seidel worked to bounce back from after Tokyo 2020, the runner has courageously and candidly shared the ongoing mental health challenges she has been facing (she was diagnosed with ADHD in Feb. 2022), discussing her eating disorder recovery on social media and stressing the importance of reaching out for help.
Seidel had a mostly healthy 2023 season, having fun on the trails and roads–competing in the B.A.A.10K in Boston and placing second at the Speedgoat 28K trail run. Her success in Chicago was a nice reminder of her capabilities. “On the tougher days or like these last two years, I’ve dealt with a lot of injury, a lot of setbacks, and so it’s nice on the days when you might not be feeling it, motivation’s low or you’re feeling really down,” she told Olympics.com. “You kinda remember. You’re like, yeah, I did that. I can do this.”
Seidel concluded Thursday’s post with some positive words for her fellow American runners: “[But] I know that the team that we will be sending is going to be the most incredible and most competitive we can be. And I am going to be watching and cheering for all the women racing this weekend.”
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