SPRINGFIELD (CBS) – Injuries prevented Olympic medalist Molly Seidel from continuing in Monday’s Boston Marathon.
Molly Seidel Boston Marathon Dropped Out
Around Mile 16, Seidel, who was running in her first Boston Marathon, dropped out.
Seidel wrote that she was “absolutely gutted” in an Instagram post.
“Today was a really tough one, but I’m all good,” Seidel added. As the author puts it, “Hip is banged up, but the choice to pull at mile 16 was to avoid anything from getting worse and not creating a longer-term problem.”
Seidel Placed Third in the Men’s Marathon at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, Earning him a Bronze Medal.
Molly Seidel, one of the best U.S. racers in the field, was conspicuously absent as Monday’s women’s elite race at the 2022 Boston Marathon advanced.
Marathon bronze medalist Seidel had to withdraw from the Tokyo Olympics due to a hip issue at mile 16.
She explained her decision to withdraw from the Boston Marathon and her challenges during “one of the hardest races of my running career” in an Instagram post published Tuesday morning.
Everybody has Good days and bad days.
The best I had was obviously not good enough, and I have no explanation to provide,” she admitted.
After Seidel began to lose ground on the frontrunners, such as eventual winner Peres Jepchirchir and runner-up Ababel Yeshaneh, Seidel revealed what had transpired.
Beforehand, Seidel disclosed that she experienced hip impingement throughout her training. She noted in a statement released through the Boston Athletic Association, “It was feeling fantastic the last two weeks and there was no indication that it might hurt today.”
While the hip began to lock up about the halfway point of the race, I still gave it my all and tried to stay with the leaders.
I was in a lot of agony by mile 16, so I made the tough decision to stop at a medical tent before I did any serious damage.
The first time the Wisconsin native made waves for her athletic prowess was when she finished second in her first marathon and so qualified for the U.S. Olympic team for Tokyo 2020.
Nonetheless, many watchers predicted that her lack of expertise would be exposed at the Sapporo Olympic race. To think they were that wrong is laughable.
Conclusion
It was only her third marathon overall, yet she ended up on the podium and with an Olympic bronze medal around her neck. She was only bested by Peres Jepchirchir, who has the world mark for the half marathon three times, and Brigid Kosgei, who holds the world record for the marathon.
Using that boost of confidence, Seidel ran the New York City Marathon in November 2021 and placed fourth overall. She ran the marathon in a record-breaking 2 hours, 24 minutes, and 42 seconds for an American woman.
