Published: Sep 10, 2015 10:12 AM EDT may be known now at least as much for off-the-track activities as for her running accomplishments. But in the late 1990s and the first few years of this century, she was the best American woman middle-distance runner in a decade and a half.

There were glorious highs for Favor Hamilton, and they briefly earned her a reputation as the world’s best in her specialty. But there were disappointments, too, not all of them explicable solely on athletic grounds. Here’s a review of her running career.

High School and Before

Suzy Favor began running at the age of nine, and was in a local Wisconsin club known as the Sparkles in middle school. She won 11 state titles in the 800, 1600, and 3200 while at Stevens Point Area Senior High School.

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She won three consecutive USA Junior 1500 titles beginning in 1984, and was a Pan American Junior gold medalist in 1984 and 1986. In 1986, she was ninth in the World Junior Championships 1500. Her best high school time for 1500 meters was 4:18.62.

College

At the University of Wisconsin, she made an immediate impact with a second place at the 1986 NCAA Cross Country Championships. Beginning with indoor mile and outdoor 1500 victories as a freshman in 1987, Favor won nine NCAA track titles. In 1990, she set a still-standing American collegiate record in beating future Olympian Meredith Rainey (Valmon) of Harvard in the 800 at the NCAA Championships in 1:59.11. (The video below shows her 1987 indoor mile win.)

Favor set an American junior record of 4:09.10 in the 1500 in 1987; the record lasted until Mary Cain broke it in 2013. She was the 1989 World University Games silver medalist in the 1500.

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In 1990, she won the Honda-Broderick Cup as the nation’s top collegiate female athlete. The Big Ten Network subsequently named her the outstanding female athlete in the conference’s history; she won 23 conference titles while at Wisconsin. A Big Ten female athlete of the year was named for her, but her name was removed from the honor after her work as a paid escort became public.

Professional

Hamilton (as she was known after marriage, later going by Favor Hamilton) was America’s fastest 1500 runner since Other Hearst Subscriptions. She ran 3:57.40 at the 2000 Bislett Games, defeating reigning Olympic gold medalist Svetlana Masterkova of Russia while recording the fastest time in the world that year and the best American time in 15 years. Favor Hamilton is fourth on the all-time U.S. 1500 list behind Shannon Rowbury, Slaney, and Jenny Simpson.

"I'm so pleased with what I've done so far in my career," Favor Hamilton said in 2001. Although she stated the goal of breaking Decker Slaney's record, the 3:57.40 remained her personal best.

In 2002, she broke 4:00 for the 1500 three times, matching Slaney as the only American woman to do so in a year. Her fastest career mile was a 4:22.93 for a bronze medal at the 1998 Goodwill Games. In 1995, she set an American 1,000-meter record of 2:33.93, a mark broken four years later by her archrival Regina Jacobs. In her first try at the 5,000 in 2000, she clocked 15:06.48.

Favor Hamilton was a four-time U.S. outdoor champion in the 1500, and national champion twice indoors in the mile and once in the 1500. Her list of titles would be far longer if she hadn’t so often come out on the short end of duels with Jacobs, who retired in 2004 coincident with receiving a four-year competitive ban for using performance-enhancing drugs.

Favor Hamilton entered the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, as one of the favorites. She was leading in the final when rivals began to catch her, and she collapsed on the track, eventually rising to finish last.

Favor Hamilton has offered varying accounts for the incident. She initially ascribed it to dehydration. In 2001, she told Runner's World she suffered a panic attack and that “my body pretty much shut down.” She also said that at the Sydney start the look on face was "like a scared deer about to be hit by a car." Favor Hamilton has subsequently said she purposefully fell because of the stressfulness of the situation. She discussed her fall in the 2012 interview seen below.

In her other Olympic appearances, Favor Hamilton was 11th in a heat of the 1500 in 1992 and fourth in an 800 heat in 1996. She failed to finish the 1500 final at the 2001 IAAF World Championships in Edmonton. That was her only appearance in a world championships final.

After being the focal point of calendars and Nike ads, Favor Hamilton said in 2002, "I definitely was focusing too much attention on getting attention in other ways than running. I've realized now that I want to be known for the runner I am."

In 2003, her last outstanding track season, she was the runner-up in the 1500 at the Prefontaine Classic, and ran 4:01.69 at Rome’s Golden Gala. She competed at the 2004 Olympic Trials, where she qualified for but didn’t start the 1500-meter final.

After retiring from elite competition, Favor Hamilton made promotional appearances at road races, including events put on by runDisney and the Rock ’n’ Roll Marathon Series. CA Notice at Collection.

Favor Hamilton ran the 2014 Los Angeles Marathon to support the charity Magic Bus, an organization that uses sport to teach children life skills. Her name doesn't appear in a results search of finishers because she ran anonymously, with a Magic Bus shirt covering her number.

"My mental frame wasn’t perfect my whole career and it will never be perfect," She lost those sponsorships after her work as a paid escort was revealed in 2012 Runner's World in 2012. &Stravas 2024 Yearly Report Is Here