Tokyo-bound: Former Shocker headed to Olympics as surprise winner of Marathon Trials
Former Shocker runner Aliphine Tuliamuk was the surprise winner of the United States Olympic Women’s Marathon Trials on Saturday in Atlanta, securing her spot for the Tokyo Games this summer.
Tuliamuk, a 2013 Wichita State graduate, was seeded 10th entering the race, but won by the smallest margin in women’s trials history (8 seconds) after completing 26.2 miles in Centennial Olympic Park in 2 hours, 27 minutes and 23 seconds.
Tuliamuk, 30, is a native of Kenya but became a U.S. citizen in 2016. Along with her first trip to the Olympics, Tuliamuk earned $80,000 for the victory. The women’s Olympic marathon, held in Sapporo, Japan, is scheduled for August 8.
“I actually still don’t believe that it happened,” Tuliamuk said in her interview afterward on NBC. “Making the Olympic team is my way of showing my gratitude to this beautiful nation that has given me so much.”
Tuliamuk will be the sixth Shocker to compete in the Olympic Games, the third to do so for the United States and the first since 1972. The other former WSU track and field athletes who have competed in the Summer Games are Ineta Radevica (2004 and 2012 in long jump and triple jump for Latvia), Randy Lewis (2004 and 2008 in triple jump for Grenada), Einars Tupuritis (1996 in the 800 for Latvia), Preston Carrington (1972 in long jump for US) and Harold Manning (1936 in steeplechase for US).
Tuliamuk is the most decorated runner in Shocker history. She was an 11-time All-American in track and field, the most in program history, and a three-time All-American in cross country. She still holds the program records in cross country, as well as the 3,000 meters and 5,000 meters in indoor track and the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters in outdoor track.
Since leaving WSU, Tuliamuk has become a professional runner and trains with HOKA Northern Arizona in Flagstaff. Her teammate is Kellyn Taylor (formerly Johnson), another former Shocker All-American who finished eighth in the women’s field in 2:29:55.
WSU also had another former runner in the men’s field. Chris Burnett, who still trains in Wichita, finished 143rd out of 565 qualified runners in a time of 2:30:54.
Evan Landes, a Mulvane graduate who became a star runner at Kansas, finished 50th overall with a time of 2:19:08, while Wichita native Raquel Rios-Reed (2:53:16) also competed in the women’s field.
This story was originally published February 29, 2020 at 4:00 PM.
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