Olsen's 50-Mile world record earns her USATF Athlete of the Week honors

INDIANAPOLIS — Bettering the world record* in the women's 50-mile run, Courtney Olsen (Bellingham, WA/USATF Pacific Northwest) earned recognition as the 36th USATF Athlete of the Week award winner for 2024.

Olsen, a 37-year-old Washingtonian who will represent the U.S. at the 100K World Championships in December, won the Tunnel Hill 50 Mile in Vienna, Illinois, in 5:31:56 to chop more than eight minutes off the ratified International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU) record of 5:40:18 that was set by Ann Trason of the U.S. in 1991.

A 3000m steeplechase finalist at the 2010 NCAA Division II Track and Field Championships for Western Washington, Olsen has become one of the top ultra-runners in the world, placing fourth at the 2022 IAU 100K Championships to help the U.S. to the team title, and fifth at the 2019 IAU 50K Championships. She was a qualifier for the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in the marathon and earlier this year placed third at the prestigious Comrades Marathon (86K) in South Africa.
 
Other top performances from last week:

• Marissa Ferebee won the Nike Cross Regionals (NXR) Heartland Regional Championships girls' 5K race by nine seconds in 16:25.5, a course record by 19 seconds.
• Juan Gonzalez was the boys' winner at the Nike Cross Regionals (NXR) Heartland Regional Championships with a 14:34.3 5K effort that gave him a 0.8-second margin of victory.
• JaQuavious Harris won the NJCAA individual national cross country crown to lead his Salt Lake team to the title in the men's 8K race, clocking 23:30.7.

*Ratification of the record will be handled by the IAU.
 
Now in its 23rd 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.

2024 Winners: January 17, Weini Kelati; January 24, Cooper Teare; January 31, Nico Young; February 7, Fiona O'Keeffe; February 14, Elle St. Pierre; February 21, Grant Holloway; February 28, Jalani Davis; March 6, Elle St. Pierre; March 13, Rachel Glenn; March 20, Grant Fisher; March 27, Myrle Mensey; April 3, Jordan Davis; April 10, Hillary Bor; April 17, Jacious Sears; April 24, Christian Miller; May 1, Payton Otterdahl; May 8, Gabby Thomas; May 15, Ja'Kobe Tharp; May 22, Rai Benjamin; May 29, Joe Kovacs; June 5, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone; June 12, McKenzie Long; July 10, Valarie Allman; July 17, Rai Benjamin; July 24, Quincy Wilson; September 4, Ja'Kobe Tharp; September 11, Grant Holloway; September 18, Nora Cary; September 25, Jessica McClain; October 2, Brittany Brown; October 9, Fiona Bayly; October 16, CJ Albertson; October 23, Dan King; October 30, Nick Christie; November 6, Zariel Macchia; November 13, Courtney Olsen.

We welcome your nominations!

To nominate an athlete for USATF Athlete of the Week, please send a detailed email about their performance to communications@usatf.org.

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Photo Credit: Ryan Cox