Elle Purrier St. Pierre wins a heat in the women’s 1500-meter run during the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Team Trials Thursday, June 27, in Eugene, Oregon. Photo by Charlie Neibergall/AP
Vermont runner Elle Purrier St. Pierre is heading back to the Olympics.
The Montgomery dairy farmer finished third in the women’s 1,500-meter race and won the women’s 5,000-meter race at this year’s U.S. Olympic track and field trials, which concluded Sunday night. She told reporters, though, that she plans to compete only in the 1,500 meters at the Summer Games in Paris, which start later this month.
Purrier St. Pierre previously represented the U.S. and the Green Mountains at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, drawing national eyes to her high school in Richford. That year, she finished 10th in the 1,500 meters and was the top American woman across the line.
In this year’s U.S. Olympic trials, Purrier St. Pierre ran the 5,000 meters in 14 minutes, 40.34 seconds — the fastest time ever by a woman in that event in U.S. trials history.
Meanwhile, she ran the 1,500 meters in 3:55.99 — a personal best, and significantly faster than she ran the same event (4:01.00 at her fastest) in Tokyo.
“Proud to have made my second Olympic team and so blessed to have celebrated with my little guy on the track afterwards,” the 29-year-old wrote in an Instagram post after winning the 5,000-meter race, which included two photos of her young son, Ivan.
Purrier St. Pierre’s second Olympic berth is just the latest in a string of successes she’s found since she returned to competitive racing after giving birth to Ivan last year.
This March, Purrier St. Pierre won the women’s 3,000-meter race at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Scotland, setting both a North American and a championships record. And a month prior, she set a U.S. record in the women’s indoor 1-mile race.
The Paris Olympics are set to run from July 26 to Aug. 11.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Vermont’s Elle Purrier St. Pierre punches spot on 2nd US Olympic team.