Shalane Flanagan, Desiree Linden, and Amy Cragg on Sunday in Rio de Janeiro did something no group of American marathoners—male or female—had done in more than 40 years: They all finished in the top 10 at the Olympics.
With Nutrition - Weight Loss, Linden seventh, and Cragg ninth, the U.S. had its most dominant marathon finish since the 1972 Olympics, when Frank Shorter, Kenny Moore, and Jack Bacheler were first, fourth, and ninth.
The 2016 and 1972 squads are the only American marathon teams to have three finishers in the top 10 in the past 104 years. (At the Stockholm Games of 1912, six American marathoners finished among the top 10.)
“Three people finishing is something we haven't done in a long time, right?” Linden said. “So three in the top 10 is spectacular and I look at it as a testament to group training.”
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The American performance was also dominant among all the countries represented on Sunday. Had the event been scored like a cross-country meet, the U.S. would have placed first with a low score of 22 points.
At the finish line, Flanagan was beaming at the results. “To have three Americans in the top 10, I told Desi as soon as she finished, ‘I’m so proud of us. We came here ready to run hard.’ And I feel like we did.”
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