INDIANAPOLIS — Taking 43 seconds off the pending American record in the women's marathon, Emily Sisson (Flagstaff, Arizona/USATF New England) earned recognition as the 34th USATF Athlete of the Week award winner for 2022, her second time to earn the honor this year. Sisson, who was 10th in the 10,000m at the 2020 Olympic Games and had top-10 finishes in that event at the 2017 and 2019 World Championships, ran an evenly-paced 2:18:29 to finish as runner-up at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon Sunday, bettering the pending AR of 2:19:12 that Keira D'Amato ran in Houston in January. Wisely avoiding the torrid pace set by eventual winner Ruth Chepngetich of Kenya, Sisson was at the front of a chase pack of six women that went through the halfway point at 69:26. By 30km that group had been cut to three, and Sisson started to ease away over the next 5km segment. She added more than a minute to her cushion over third place over the subsequent 5km and then tacked on a speedy finish to take second by 2:23. In May, Sisson bettered the AR and won the USATF Half Marathon Championships with a 67:11 at Indianapolis to claim AOW honors, and she also captured the USATF 15km gold in March. Other top performances from last week:
*Pending verification by the USATF LDR Records Committee Now in its 21st year, USATF’s Athlete of the Week program is designed to recognize outstanding performers at all levels of the sport. USATF names a new honoree each week when there are high-level competitions and features the athlete on USATF.org. Selections are based on top performances and results from the previous week. 2022 Winners: January 10, Alicia Monson; January 17, Keira D’Amato; January 24, Nyckoles Harbor; January 31, Elle Purrier St. Pierre; February 7, Chris Nilsen; February 14, Grant Fisher; February 21, Camille Herron; February 28, Cole Hocker; March 7, Grant Fisher; March 14, Randolph Ross; March 21, Grant Holloway; March 28, Anna Hall; April 4, Natalie Cook; April 11, Valarie Allman; April 18, Gabby Thomas; April 25, Robyn Stevens; May 2, Erriyon Knighton; May 9, Emily Sisson; May 16, Britton Wilson; May 23, Janee Kassanavoid; May 30, Michael Norman; June 6, Chari Hawkins; June 13, Devon Allen; June 27, Sydney McLaughlin; August 10, Roisin Willis; August 17, Grant Fisher; August 24, Kara Winger; August 31, Alicia Monson; September 7, Kara Winger; September 14, Joe Kovacs; September 21, Biya Simbassa; September 28, Garrett Heath; October 4, Hillary Bor; October 11, Emily Sisson. We welcome your nominations! To nominate an athlete for USATF Athlete of the Week, please send a detailed email about his/her performance to communications@usatf.org. Join the conversation with USATF on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook using the hashtag #USATF.