After years of struggle, the Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Molly Seidel was hopeful that she’d stand at the start line at the U.S. Olympic Trials this Saturday. Being one of the top athletes competing in the 2024 Olympics in Paris, she trained as much as her recovery would allow. However, after a month of waiting to heal, the injury finally made her join the prominent runners who opted out.

In an earlier interview, she told Olympics.com, ‘I want to go to the Olympics because that’s the thing to do,‘ only to take a premature exit in a weird twist of fate. Addressing the need for the same, Seidel candidly spoke to her fans in a recent video shared online.

Paris Olympics 2024: Another American marathon runner exits

Molly Seidel announced on Thursday that she will not be taking part in the US marathon trials for the Paris Games because of a knee injury. The athlete shared an Instagram video now and said, “I’m really bummed. There’s no other word for it … I’ve dreamed about making this team and defending my bronze medal at the Paris Olympics since the last Olympics.” Shared with the caption, “Hang in there Molly. You are so much more than an Olympic medalist. Lots of love and hugs your way.”

The 29-year-old was injured over a month back. Now an MRI revealed that she had a partially torn patella tendon, and a shattered patella. And despite cross-training, her knee didn’t recover properly. That being said, she decided to pull out this week. “I knew that I could not race a marathon hard on it, in its current state, without really, really injuring myself,” she added.

Although Seidel did not specify which knee was injured specifically, her right knee was taped at the November’s Chicago race. Emma Bates and Allie Kieffer both pulled out early. Joined by Susanna Sullivan is out because of persistent knee injury and Covid. Makena Morley joined the list stating an anterior tibialis injury. While injuries weren’t uncommon in the sport, there was much more that Seidel had been fighting throughout her journey.

Personal fights over the years

Throughout her career and personal life, Seidel has been candid about her eating disorders and mental health. After a first hospitalization in 2016, Seidel returned to therapy in 2022 to deal with an eating disorder recurrence. Further, taking home a bronze medal in the Tokyo Olympics presented more challenges which she describes as real depression and called it “post-Olympic slump.” She has undergone two profound years of change and feels like a different person.

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In the last quarters of 2021 to 2023, Seidel failed to partake in any major marathon because of injuries and continued mental health initiatives. It was only after she ran the Chicago Marathon in 2023, posing a personal best time of 2:23:07. Seidel became the second American and became the third fastest American female marathoner in 2023, which further boosted her confidence. Having shown resilience all these years, many showered Seidel with warm wishes as she paused for another self-care break.

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