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Top 10 Most Stunning Women Athletic Runners

Namita Nayyar (WF Team)

We have at Women Fitness put a concerted effort to select the Top 10 most stunning women athletic runners in the world. These are those women who spectators come to watch not only for their super performance on field tracks but also for their heads turning beauty.

Christina Vukicevic- (Norway) Hurdles 60 m and 100 m: Ljubica Christina Vukicevic was born on 18 June 1987 in Lørenskog.She is a Norwegian hurdler of Serbian and Norwegian descent. She represents Ski IL, and is coached by her father Petar Vukićević, who participated for Yugoslavia in the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. Her gold medal in the 2003 European Youth Summer Olympic Festival in Paris was her first international medal. She finished fifth at the 2004 World Junior Championships, and won a silver medal at the 2005 European Junior Championships in Kaunas. She was forced to take a prolonged break during the summer of 2005 due to a knee-injury and the following surgery. At the 2006 World Junior Championships she took the silver medal with the time 13.34 seconds, a national junior record. She made her senior global debut at the 2007 World Championships and ran a personal best of 13.07 seconds in the heats. Since 2004 she has been the Norwegian champion, last in 2008 with a time of 13.20 seconds.

She has later lowered her personal best time to 13.05 seconds, achieved during the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. On the 60 meter hurdles she has 8.03 seconds set on an international meeting in Düsseldorf 2008. She just missed out on the podium with a fourth place finish at the 2009 European Indoor Championships. She won her first international gold medal at the 2009 European U23 Championships in Kaunas, with a time of 12.99 seconds. She lowered her best that year to 12.74, which she achieved in Hengelo. She competed at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics but she could not reach heights she had in Hengelo, and was knocked out in the semifinals after running 13.00 seconds.

She started the 2010 season by setting a new best in the 60 metres hurdles with a run of 7.94 seconds – a Norwegian record. She narrowly missed a place in the final at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships. At the 2010 European Team Championships she won the bronze medal and came fourth at the 2010 European Athletics Championships later on, recording her season’s best of 12.78 seconds in the final.

Her 2011 opened just as it had the previous year, with a national record over 60 m hurdles (7.92 seconds). She set her sights on a medal at the 2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships, hoping to go beyond her fourth place at the 2009 event. She improved her mark further to 7.90 seconds at the BW Bank Meeting in February.

In March 2011 Vukicevic and Andreas Thorkildsen announced in Norwegian media that they no longer were a couple.

In November 2012 it was reported that she had been training with the controversial doctor Srdjan Djordjevic.

Achievements

 

Allyson Felix- (USA) Runner 200 meter race and 4x400m relay: Allyson Michelle Felix was born November 18, 1985.She is a track and field sprint athlete, who competes internationally for the United States. Her specialty is the 200 meter race, winning the 2012 Olympic gold, two Olympic silver medals, and three world championship golds. She also competes at the 100 meter and the 400 meter distances, winning three Olympic gold medals as a member of the United States’ women’s relay teams, two at 4×400 meters and one as part of the world-record 4×100 meter team. Her three gold medals at the 2012 Summer Olympics are the most a female track athlete has won since 1988. As a participant in the US Anti-Doping Agency’s “Project Believe” program, Felix is
regularly tested to ensure that her body is free of performance-enhancing drugs.

Born and raised in California, Felix is a devout Christian and the daughter of Paul, an ordained minister and professor of New Testament at The Master’s Seminary in Sun Valley, California, and Marlean who is an elementary school teacher at Balboa Magnet Elementary. Her older brother Wes Felix is also a sprinter. Also running the 200, he was the USA Junior Champion in 2002 and the Pac 10 champion in 2003 and 2004 while running for USC. Wes now acts as the agent for his sister. Felix describes her running ability as a gift from God, “For me, my faith is the reason I run. I definitely feel I have this amazing gift that God has blessed me with, and it’s all about using it to the best of my ability.”

Allyson Felix attended Los Angeles Baptist High School in North Hills, California, where she was nicknamed “Chicken Legs” by her teammates, because the five-foot-six, 125-pound sprinter’s body had skinny legs despite her strength. But Felix’s slightness was at seeming odds with her speed on the track and strength in the gym, where, while still in high school, she deadlifted at least 270 pounds. She credits much of her success to her coach, Wes Smith.

Felix didn’t discover her gift until she tried out for track in the ninth grade. Just ten weeks after that first tryout, she finished ninth in the 200 at the CIF California State Meet. In the coming seasons, she became a five-time winner at the meet. In 2003 she was named the national girls’ “High School Athlete of the Year” by Track and Field News. As a senior, Felix finished second in the 200 at the US Indoor Track & Field Championships. A few months later, in front of 50,000 fans in Mexico City, she ran 22.11 seconds, the fastest in history for a high school girl, though it could not count as a World Junior record because there was no drug testing at the meet.

Felix graduated in 2003, making headlines by forgoing college eligibility to sign a professional contract with Adidas. Adidas paid her an undisclosed sum and picked up her college tuition at the University of Southern California. She has since graduated with a degree in elementary education.

At just 18, Felix finished as silver medalist in the 200 meters at the 2004 Summer Olympics, behind Veronica Campbell of Jamaica; in so doing, she set a World Junior record over 200 meters with her time of 22.18. Felix is coached by Bobby Kersee, husband and coach of Olympic champion and world record holding heptathlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee.

Felix became the youngest-ever gold medalist sprinter in the 200 meters at the World Championships in Helsinki in 2005 and then successfully defended her title at Osaka two years later. At Osaka, Felix caught Jamaican Veronica Campbell on the bend and surged down the straight to finish in 21.81 seconds, lowering her own season-leading time by a massive 0.37 seconds. After the final she stated that “I feel so good, I am so excited. I have been waiting for so long to run such a time, to run under 22 seconds. it has not been an easy road, but finally I managed,” said Felix. At that time, she addressed her future, saying, “My next goal is not the world record, but a gold in Beijing. I want to take it step by step. I might consider to do both – the 200 and the 400 meters – there.” In 2007, Felix became only the second female athlete; after Marita Koch in 1983 to win three gold medals at a single IAAF World Championships in Athletics.

Felix continues to lift and press heavy weights as part of her training routine. Currently Felix can leg press 700 lbs despite her size. Felix qualified for the 2008 Olympic Games during the 2008 Olympic trials in the 200 meters, but just missed qualifying for the 100 meter. However, at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, despite running her season’s best time in the 200 meters at 21.93, Felix again finished second to Campbell, who ran 21.74, the best time in the decade, to clinch the gold medal. Felix also ran the 4×400 meters relay as a member of the U.S. women’s team. The team finished first, giving Felix her first Olympic gold medal.

In the build up to the 2009 World Championships in Athletics Felix was part of a United States 4 x 100 m relay team that ran the fastest women’s sprint relay in twelve years.

Lauryn Williams, Felix, Muna Lee and Carmelita Jeter finished with a time of 41.58 seconds, bringing them to eighth on the all time list. In 2009 aged just 23, Felix proceeded to claim her third 200-meter World Championships gold medal, an unprecedented accomplishment in women’s sprinting. Felix clocked 22.02sec to comfortably beat Jamaica’s Olympic 200m champion Veronica Campbell-Brown.

Afterwards she said, “It’s really special to win a third world title. I wanted to do it in this stadium, represent my country and make Jesse Owens proud.” But Felix would rather have the one gold medal that is missing during the four years it has taken her to win three consecutive 200-meter titles at the biennial world championships. “I would love to trade my three world championships for your gold,” Felix jokingly said to Veronica Campbell-Brown of Jamaica at the medalists’ news conference. That is the 2008 Olympic gold medal in the 200, a race Felix, from Valencia, was heavily favored to win. She was distressed over finishing second to Campbell-Brown when it happened in Beijing and still obsessed about it a year later. “I don’t think I ever want to get over it,” Felix said. “I never want to be satisfied with losing.” At the same time she also commented, “I’m just grateful to have had success quickly, and sometimes I do have to pinch myself and realize all this has happened in not that much time.”

In 2010, Felix focused on running more 400 m races. Running the 200 m and the 400 m, she became the first person ever to win two IAAF Diamond League trophies in the same year. She continued her dominance by winning 21 races out of 22 starts, only losing to Veronica Campbell-Brown in New York. Incidentally, it was there that Brown set the WL time of 21.98 seconds. In 2011, Felix attended the ‘Great City Games’ held in the streets of Manchester on 15 May. It was there that she set the world leading time in the 200m, which was 22.12. She also ran a 10.89 in the second 100m of the race.

At the 2011 World Championships in Athletics, Felix participated in the 200 and 400 metre events, as well as the 4×100 and 4×400 metre relays. First up was the 400 metre event, she took second place in her heat in a time of 51.45. Felix then won her semi-final in a time of 50.36, ahead of rivals Novlene Williams-Mills and Antonina Krivoshapka. Felix was placed in lane 3 in the 400 metre final and finished second in a time of 49.59, 0.03 behind winner Amantle Montsho, who she had beaten throughout the season. In the 200 metre event, Felix was drawn in heat 3 and purposely placed second behind Dafne Schippers in a time of 22.71. In her semi-final, Felix again purposely finished second behind rival Veronica Campbell-Brown in a time of 22.67. In the final, Felix was drawn in lane 3 and finished third in an under-par time of 22.42 due to fatigue. Veronica Campbell-Brown won the gold and Carmelita Jeter won silver.

In the relay events, Felix ran the second leg in both the 4x100m & 4x400m against reputable athletes such as Kerron Stewart and Kelly-Ann Baptiste, and Davita Prendergast and Nicola Sanders respectively. Felix went on to claim gold in both events and attained world-leading times in both finals.

In 2012, Felix returned to the Olympic Trials, the schedule of events virtually requiring she choose between attempting to qualify in the 100m or 400m as her secondary event behind the 200m. She chose the 100m and advanced to the final, the top 3 finishers were to go on to the 2012 Summer Olympics as part of the 100m team. In the final, she ran 11.01, good enough for 3rd, but not without controversy. Officials ruled the race a tie after initially declaring the inexperienced Jeneba Tarmoh the winner. There was to be a run off for the 3rd spot between Tarmoh and Felix, but Tarmoh pulled out of the 100-meter runoff scheduled for Monday July 2, 2012, thus conceding the final 100m spot to Felix.

In the 200m final at the Olympic Trials, Felix ran a personal best and a meet record of 21.69, the third fastest time an American has ever run and the fourth fastest ever. Carmelita Jeter and Sanya Richards-Ross placed 2nd and 3rd respectively.

At the 2012 Summer Olympics Felix competed in 4 events: The 100m, 200m, 4x100m relay, and 4x400m relay, placing 5th in the 100m and winning gold in the other three, thus becoming the first American woman to win three golds in athletics at an Olympics since Florence Griffith-Joyner at the 1988 Summer Olympics. In her first final, the 100m, she placed 5th, running a personal best time of 10.89 seconds. In the 200m final; a race she lost at the 2008 Summer Olympics and 2004 Summer Olympics to Jamaican rival,

Veronica Campbell-Brown, it proved third time lucky as she beat Campbell-Brown, and also the 2012 100m Olympic Gold medallist, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who finished second.

American compatriot Carmelita Jeter took the bronze.

Felix took to the track again on August 10, 2012 as part of the women’s 4x100m relay team with Tianna Madison, Bianca Knight, and Carmelita Jeter. The foursome went on to smash the long held world record of 41.37, set by East Germany in October 1985. This record was set before Allyson Felix, Bianca Knight, or Tianna Madison were even born.

On the final night of athletics August 11, 2012, Felix ran the 2nd leg of the women’s 4 x 400m (in a leg time of 47.80), with DeeDee Trotter, Francena McCorory, and Sanya Richards-Ross, with the winning time being 3:16.87, the 3rd fastest time in Olympic history behind the Soviet Union and USA at the 1988 Summer Olympics, and the 5th fastest time overall.

Following the Olympics, Felix was a guest on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on August 17, 2012. Felix also visited the set of ABC show Scandal, where she took photos with the cast and her Olympic medals. She had revealed she spent some of the time in her London hotel room watching Scandal when an NBC broadcaster talked to her after her 200m qualifier race on August 7.

Achievements

Joanne Fenn- (Great Britain) middle distance runner: Joanne Fenn was born on October 19, 1974 in Leytonstone, London.She is an English middle distance runner.

Jo had shown a great deal of promise in her early athletics career having been the English schools 300m hurdles champion. However, a series of injuries, particularly shin splints, halted her career. Initially competing in the 400 metre hurdles and heptathlon, Jo took up the 800 metres with her breakthrough season arriving in 2002. She is a member of the Woodford Green & Essex Ladies athletic club.

Fenn produced a personal best of 1:59.86 at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, in Manchester which led to 7th place in the final.

2004 started promisingly for Jo with an 800 m. bronze medal at the World Indoor Championships in Budapest, Hungary. In the 800 m at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, where Jo accompanied teammate and eventual gold medalist Kelly Holmes, she progressed through the first round but in the third of three semi-finals found the pace too fast and finished fifth therefore not qualifying for the final.

Having recovered from a serious knee injury and major operation on a grapefruit size cyst in 2006 and a split from her longtime coach Ayo Falola in late 2007, Jo moved to Birmingham to train with Alan Storey with a view to qualifying for her 2nd Olympics.

Fenn was a singer in a local band, The Business during her early career and her sister Carla is also a singer in a band. An album co-written with Judie Tzuke is planned for autumn 2007 and released on Universal. Jo Fenn went to Mayville Primary School, Leytonstone, which she annually visits on the last day of each school year to award a special Jo Fenn Trophy.

Eleni Artymata- (Cyprus, Greece) runner 200m: Eleni Artymata was born on May 16, 1986 in Paralimni. She is a track and field sprint athlete, who competes internationally for Cyprus.

Artymata represented Cyprus at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. She competed at the 200 metres, where she reached the second round. She won two medals, a gold in the 200 m and a bronze in the 100 m at the Mediterranean Games in Pescara. She also won two gold at the 2005 Games of the Small States of Europe.

At the 2009 World Athletics Championships, she reached the final of the 200 metres, where she finished 8th. She recorded her personal best in the 200 m of 22.64 seconds in the semi finals of the same event.

At the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India, Eleni was fastest qualifier in the 200 m women’s heats. Hours later however she was quickly disqualified when accusations were made by a rival team that she had strayed into another lane, despite officials not having seen this occur at the time and declaring her the winner of her heat. A major controversy developed in the media over whether or not she had strayed with slow motion video footage clearly showing she had not strayed, and the final was delayed repeatedly until eventually it was cancelled and moved back a day. To resolve the controversy organisers upheld the DQ on statements from rival athletes alone.

Susanna Kallur- (Sweden) 60 m & 100m hurdles: Susanna Elisabeth Kallur was born on February 16, 1981.She is a Swedish athlete competing mainly in sprint hurdles. She has won several international medals, including the gold medal in the 100 m hurdles at the 2006 European Athletics Championships. Kallur holds the world indoor record for 60 m hurdles.

Kallur made a breakthrough by winning the 100 m hurdles at the 2000 World Junior Championship. She then initially failed to make an impact on senior competition, failing to make the final of two World Championships and then the 2004 Olympic Games. She improved her personal best to 12.67 seconds.

In 2005 she won her first senior gold medal at the 2005 European Indoor Championships in Madrid. But once again she failed to reach the final of the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki. She came third in the 2006 World Indoor Championships. Kallur, in her biggest achievement to date, won the 100 m hurdles at the 2006 European Championships in front of her home crowd in Gothenburg. She won in a time of 12.59 sec ahead of Kirsten Bolm and Derval O’Rourke.

Kallur retained her title at the 2007 European Indoor Championships. She finished only fourth in the 100 m hurdles at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka, despite running a personal best of 12.51s. However, the Swedish team had grounds for appeal, as eventual winner Michelle Perry had crossed over into Kallur’s lane. Indeed they did register an appeal, but after the time limit had elapsed. After the World Championships, Kallur won the three remaining Golden League events in Berlin, Zürich and Brussels, posting a personal best in the German capital and beating Perry in all three races.

After posting several fast times throughout the beginning of the 2008 indoor season, Kallur broke the 60 m hurdles indoor world record, posting a time of 7.68 at a meeting in Karlsruhe, Germany on February 10, 2008. Kallur was then the clear favourite for the World Indoor title in Valencia and won her heat in 7.87 seconds, but did not start the semi-finals, pulling out injured.

She fell at the first hurdle of her semi-final of the 100 m women’s hurdles event at the 2008 Olympic Games. She missed the entirety of the 2009 season through a stress fracture injury. She had surgery on her shin in late 2008 and, although she had a metal plate removed in June 2009, she declared herself unfit for the 2009 World Championships.

She briefly returned to competition in 2010 running a time of 12.78 in New York City to finish seventh and coming fourth over 100 m hurdles in the European Cup in the 1st Division. However, she was again sidelined from athletics in 2011. She had hoped to compete at the World Championships but did not recover from injury in time. She resumed training in August at a low-intensity, saying that she wants to run in the Olympics in 2012.

Born February 16, 1981 in Huntington, New York, U.S., Kallur is now a resident of Falun, Dalarnas län, and trains with Falu IK. Her twin sister Jenny, who is 4 minutes older, is also a 100 m hurdler. They are daughters of the ice hockey player Anders Kallur, who won four Stanley Cup championships with the New York Islanders, and his wife Lisa.

She is 1.69 m (5 ft 6 in) and weighs 61 kg (134 lb; 9 st 8 lb). She is coached by Torbjörn Eriksson and also by Karin Torneklint. Often called ‘Sanna’ in Sweden.

As she was born in the USA, she has dual-citizenship. She studied at and competed for University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

In January 2007 she won the Jerring Award, voted by the people of Sweden to be the best sports person or team in Sweden at the time.

Number two in the vote was the Swedish national men’s ice hockey team, which won Olympic gold and World Championships in 2006.

Susanna and her twin sister Jenny have also done gymnastics and used to be members of the Swedish Junior National Team.

Achievements

Danielle Carruthers- (USA) 60 m & 100 m hurdles: Danielle Carruthers was born on December 22, 1979. She is an American hurdler who first became well known on the Indiana University track team. She had won the 60 metres hurdles at the 2005 and 2006 NCAA Women’s Indoor Track and Field Championships.

She finished eighth at the 2001 Summer Universiade, fourth at the 2006 World Indoor Championships and seventh at the 2006 World Athletics Final.

Her personal best time is 12.47 seconds, achieved in September 2011 in Daegu, South Korea, where she won siver medal.

Carruthers finished second behind Sally Pearson of Australia at the World Athletics Championships in 2011, in the 100 metres hurdles where Carruthers set a new personal best of 12.47 in front of compatriot Dawn Harper, the reigning Olympic champion at the event. It was there that Pearson set a new personal best and set the championship record of 12.28, which is the fourth fastest time of all time ever run by a woman.

Danielle Carruthers wins Diamond league trophy over Sally Pearson, Sept 2011.

Emma Coburn- (USA) middle distance runner: Emma Coburn was born on October 19, 1990. She is an American middle distance runner and the 2011 United States National Champion in the 3000 meter steeplechase. In the 2011 IAAF world Athletics championships she was the only American to make the steeplechase final, finishing 13th. She is also the current American junior record holder in the event with a time of 10:06.21, set in 2009. She came in 9th in the 3000 meter steeplechase at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Emma Coburn finished second in the 2008 Nike Outdoor Nationals Track and Field Championships in 2000 meter steeplechase in 6:42. Attended Crested Butte Community school. She also completed a friendship with Chad James, who would for a long time be her coach While attending University of Colorado, in 2010, Emma Coburn won the Big 12 steeple chase title as a sophomore and finished second in the NCAA championships. In 2011, as a junior, she won both the Big 12 indoor 3000 meter title, and the Big 12 and NCAA outdoor title in the 3000 meter steeplechase. Coburn won the 2011 USA outdoor title in the steeplecase and made the US steeple team at the World Championships in 2011 finishing 12th in the final. During her senior year in cross country Coburn finished in 20th place over the six kilometer distance at the NCAA national cross country championships and was Colorado’s 2nd place runner contributing to a 11th place team finish. In her first steeplechase of the 2012 season Emma Coburn became the fourth fastest American in history and the fastest American on US soil with her time of 9:25.28. The time was also a 12 second PR for Coburn, who is currently redshirting the outdoor season at the University of Colorado to focus on the Olympic Trials.

Coburn qualified for the U.S. Olympic team in the 3000 meter steeplechase, joined in the event by her University of Colorado teammate Shalaya Kipp. At age 21, Coburn is the youngest runner on the American team at the 2012 Olympics. In her Olympic heat, she placed third with a time of 9:27.51, automatically qualifying for the Olympic final. She came in 9th in the final, with a time of 9:23.54 – a personal best

Sina Schielke: (Germany) 100m, 200m & 60m Runner: Sina Schielke was born on 19 May 1981 in Herdecke.She is a former German sprinter, often praised for her looks as well as her sprinting ability. Her personal bests are 11.16 seconds in the 100 metres, 22.78 in the 200 metres, and 7.19 seconds in the indoor 60 metres.

Schielke won a silver medal in the 200 m at the 2000 World Junior Championships as well as a gold with the German 4 × 100 metres relay team. She won another medal in relay when the Germans finished second at the 2002 European Athletics Championships in Munich.

 

Achievements

Christine Arron- (France) runner 100 m: Christine Arron was born on September 13, 1973. She is a track and field sprint athlete, competing internationally for France. She is the fifth fastest woman ever over 100 metres, and holds the European record of 10.73 seconds.

She arrived in Metropolitan France in 1990 and first trained with Fernand Urtebise, who also coached 1997 world 400 m hurdles champion Stephane Diagana. She had a hip injury which kept her out of the 2001 World Championships. She was named 1998 European Women’s Athlete of the Year, after winning the 100m at the European Athletics Championships, breaking the European record in the process.

In 2001, after a heavy training period in the U.S. with John Smith and the HSI group, she quit training for a year, saying she was physically exhausted from the experience. “It was hell. Every morning I wondered how I was going to put up with the burden of training.” In June 2002 she gave birth to her first child.

Arron was also the last runner of the French 4×100 relay team which upset the heavy favourites USA to win the gold medal in the 2003 World Championships in Athletics held in Paris. She recovered from 3 m behind the new 100 m World Champion, Torri Edwards, to give to the Stade de France crowd an unpredicted joy.

She won the bronze medal in the 4x100m relay at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.

In August 2005 she won a bronze medal in the 100 meters and in the 200 meters at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics.
Arron is the holder of the fourth-fastest legal 100 m performance ever (10.73). Considering the controversy surrounding the performances of world record-holder, Florence Griffith-Joyner, many considered Arron’s performance to be the ‘true’ world record. The next run considered a world record is Carmelita Jeter’s 10.64 at Shanghai in 2009.

At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing she competed at the 100 metres sprint. In her first round heat she placed first in front of Lauryn Williams and Tahesia Harrigan in a time of 11.37 to advance to the second round. There she failed to qualify for the semi finals as her time of 11.36 was only the fourth time of her heat behind Debbie Ferguson, Oludamola Osayomi and Vida Anim, causing elimination.

Arron has voiced her annoyance with Marion Jones, her fiercest rival during her career: “She has lied for years. She treated everyone as idiots. I’m not shocked she is going to jail.

Many people criticised me because I was always the one who lost in the Jones-Arron battle, even if I had very good results. We started running together in 1997. She has stolen my best years. Everything could have been different for me.

Achievements

 

Kara Goucher- (USA) Long-distance runner: Kara Goucher was born on Kara Grgas on July 9, 1978. She is an American long-distance runner. She was the 10,000 meters bronze medalist at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics and represented her country at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She made her marathon debut in 2008 and finished third at the Boston Marathon.

She competed collegiate for the University of Colorado and was a three-time NCAA (twice in track and once in cross country) champion.

Goucher was born in Queens, New York. When she was four years old her family (mother Patty and sisters Kelly and Kendall) moved to Duluth, Minnesota after her father was killed by a drunk driver on the Harlem River Drive, When her mother remarried, Kara took her stepfather’s name, and was known as Kara Wheeler.

She ran in high school for Duluth East.She lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband, fellow American runner Adam Goucher. Kara gave birth to a boy, Colton (Colt) Mirko, on September 25, 2010.

As a runner for the University of Colorado, Goucher broke out in 2000, becoming the NCAA Outdoor Champion in 3000 m and 5000 m, the NCAA Cross Country Champion, and also a 5000 m Olympic Trials Finalist (eighth). She graduated from the University of Colorado in 2001.

After college Goucher battled injuries for several years, but then came back strong in 2006. After finishing second in the 5K at the USATF Outdoor Championships in 2006, she set PRs at all distances on the international circuit, running the World “A” Standard in the 1500 m, 5000 m, and 10000 m. She finished third in 3000 metres at the 2006 IAAF World Cup in a new personal best time of 8:41.42. Her 3k time led the nation and her 10k time ranked her as the 2nd fastest American woman of all-time. At the 2007 IAAF World Championships in Osaka, Japan she won the bronze medal in the women’s 10,000 m event.

In September 2007, she won the Great North Run in 1:06:57, the fastest woman’s half-marathon time of the year, setting a new American best time at the distance and beating marathon world record-holder Paula Radcliffe, on the latter’s comeback from pregnancy and injury. The half-marathon was Goucher’s first competitive race longer than 10k.

Goucher kicked off 2008 with a win in the prestigious Millrose Games mile with a personal record of 4:36:03. At the 2008 Prefontaine Classic track meet in Eugene, Oregon, USA, Goucher ran the 5000 m, the same race as the World Record attempt by Meseret Defar. Goucher ran well to place third behind Defar and Kenyan Vivian Cheruiyot in her second fastest ever time of 14:58.10 minutes.

Goucher is a member of the Nike Oregon Project, a project designed to improve standards in American distance running. There she trains with fellow athletes Galen Rupp, her husband Adam Goucher, Josh Rohatinsky, and Amy Yoder Begley Goucher raced in the USATF Championships and Olympic Trials on June 27, 2008, in the 5000 m and the 10,000 m. The championships were held at Hayward Field, Eugene, Oregon. Goucher already had the Olympic A Standard, but achieved it again, recording 31:37.72 at 10,000 m, finishing second behind American record-holder Shalane Flanagan’s 31:34.81. In the 5000 m, Goucher won her semi final heat with a time of 15:32.32, and won the final race with a time of 15:01.02. Goucher competed in the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics 10,000 m final where she placed tenth with a personal best time of 30:55.16, and the 5000 m where she placed ninth with a time of 15:49.39.

Goucher made her marathon debut at the New York City Marathon on November 2, 2008.She finished in third place in a time of 2:25:53, becoming the first American on the podium since Anne Marie Lauck was third in 1994. Goucher was chosen as the 2008 Road Runner of the Year in the Open Female division by the Road Runners Club of America.

The next year, she won the 2009 Lisbon Half Marathon, and placed third in the 2009 Boston Marathon in a time of 2:32:25. She finished tenth in the marathon at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics, with a time of 2:27:48.

Goucher became pregnant in early 2010 and took a season away from competition as a result. Following the birth of her child, Colt, she returned to competition at the Arizona Half Marathon in January 2011, and finished as the runner-up behind Madaí Pérez. At the 2011 New York City Half Marathon, she placed third with a time of 1:09:03 hours.

In April 2011, Goucher returned to marathoning at the 2011 Boston Marathon, where she placed fifth with a time of 2:24:52 hours, setting a new personal best by a minute. She was runner-up to Shalane Flanagan over 10,000 m at the 2011 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships and later ran in the event at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics, where she finished 13th overall. In December, she competed at the inaugural Miami Beach Half Marathon and was again second behind Flanagan.

Goucher qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics by placing third at the U.S. Olympic marathon trials on January 14, 2012 in Houston, finishing with a time of 2:26:06. She came third at the New York Half Marathon that March, running a time of 1:09:12 hours. Goucher placed 11th in the 2012 Summer Olympics with a time of 2:26.07.

Achievements: Marathon
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