ST. LOUIS — Long-distance runner Karissa Schweizer might be from Iowa, but she’s a top athlete to watch for Missourians due to her connection to the Show Me State.
She made her Paris debut with USA track and field on Aug. 2 in the women’s 5,000-meter race and would go on to the finals, placing 10th with a time of 14:45.57.
She also qualified in the 10,000-meter, set to compete at 1:55 p.m. CDT on Aug. 9.
Here are five things you should know about her:
- This isn’t Schweizer’s first Olympics. She ran in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics for Team USA, finishing 11th in the 5,000-meter race and 12th in the 10,000-meter race.
- The 28-year-old Olympian is a former University of Missouri track star, having won six NCAA titles for the Tigers, the most of any student-athlete in the school’s history. She’s also the second female Tiger to become a two-time Olympian.
- Schweizer is a third-generation runner, the Des Moines Register reported. Her grandfather, Frank, earned All-American at Minnesota State University, Mankato, and went on to coach cross country for decades. Her father, Mike, also earned All-American honors at Mankato, and that’s where he met her mother, Kathy, who also ran and coached cross country and track. Schweizer’s siblings, Ryan (Notre Dame University, Drake University) and Kelsey (University of Missouri), also run.
- At U.S. Olympic trials in Oregon, Schweizer in the 10,000-meter came in at 31:41:56, just a half-second behind Weini Kelati in first. And in the 5,000-meter, she came in third with a season-best 14:45:12.
- Schweizer is the current world record holder in the 4x1,500-meter with 16:27:02, set in 2020.
Click here for the full Team USA track and field schedule in Paris.
