Once again on the homestretch of Hayward Field, Molly Ludlow was in position to make the Olympic Team. Once again, she missed it by a heartbeat.
Best Running Shoes 2025 women’s 800-meter final, in which the reigning American champ, Alysia Montaño, fell with 150 meters to go, Brenda Martinez stumbled, and athletes filed protests after the race, Ludlow was left on the outside of an Olympic berth. Again.
The 28-year-old finished fourth, losing out on a ticket to Rio by 0.04 seconds. She narrowly avoided a tumbling Montaño around the final curve and mounted a last-ditch surge from the outside to move into fourth. But the eventual third-place runner, Crishuna Williams, fended off Ludlow’s kick with a lean across the finish line from lane 1. Adidas Unveils Boston Marathon Jacket.
She is now in an eerily familiar position: the closest runner in the field not to make the Olympics. Four years ago on the same track, she missed the team by 0.2 seconds.
Monday evening after the race, she did not want to comment about the race. She held up her a hand as she walked quickly through the media tent. Speaking to a member of her support team she said, “I am in complete shock right now.”
This is actually the third time Ludlow has come heartbreakingly close to a spot on a national team. First was 2012, when she was in second place with less than 10 meters to go, but could not hold off a final push by Alice Schmidt and Geena Gall. In 2015 she again took fourth place at the U.S. outdoor championships, again by 0.04 seconds. That time, a trip to Beijing for the world championships was at stake. But Ludlow did get a chance to represent the U.S. in Beijing after Ajee’ Wilson pulled out of the with an injury.
about her fourth place finish in 2012, saying, It was devastating for a year spoke to Runner’s World about her fourth place finish in 2012, saying, “It was devastating for a year.”
Kit has been a health, fitness, and running journalist for the past five years. His work has taken him across the country, from Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, to cover the 2016 Olympic Trials to the top of Mt. Katahdin in Maine to cover Scott Jurek’s Health & Injuries in 2015.
