Abbey Cooper (née D'Agostino; born May 25, 1992) is an American middle- and long-distance runner. Cooper is the most decorated Ivy League athlete in

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

and

cross country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open cou ...

. She is the first Dartmouth female distance runner to win an NCAA title. She won a total of seven NCAA titles (1 – cross country; 4 – indoor track; 2 – outdoor track) in her career. In 2014, she became a professional runner for

New Balance New Balance Athletics, Inc. (NB), best known as simply New Balance, is one of the world's major sports footwear and apparel manufacturers. Based in Boston, Massachusetts, the multinational corporation was founded in 1906 as the New Balance Arch ...

. At the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, she received considerable international media attention following an incident during a 5000m heat in which both she and New Zealander Nikki Hamblin fell. The two women helped each other finish the race and were allowed to compete in the final; however, Cooper had suffered a torn anterior crucial ligament and meniscus and wasn't able to participate further. Both athletes were praised for their sportsmanship and "Olympic spirit", and were subsequently awarded the Rio 2016 Fair Play Award by the International Fair Play Committee.

Personal life

Cooper attended

Masconomet Regional High School Masconomet Regional High School, is co-located with Masconomet Regional Middle School in Boxford, Massachusetts, United States and serves the towns of Boxford, Middleton and Topsfield. Masconomet Regional Middle School serves grades 7 and 8 whil ...

Boxford, Massachusetts Boxford is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the town's population was 8,203 in 2020. The original town center of Boxford, along with East Boxford and other areas in the eastern part of t ...

. She graduated from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...

in 2014. Her mother Donna competed for the UMass-Dartmouth Corsairs. She has two younger sisters, Lily and Julia. She is a devout Christian.Olymipic Recovery - The ACL Evolution
''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twi ...

'', July 24, 2017 She married Jacob Cooper in July 2018, who works as the clinical sport psychologist at Appalachian State University

Dartmouth

In 2013 Cooper became the first

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight school ...

athlete, male or female, to win an NCAA Cross Country National Championship. After winning her 2013 NCAA Cross Country title and 5th NCAA title in her career, she praised coach Mark Coogan for the preparation for championship running and close finishes; She won the NCAA cross country title by outdistancing Emma Bates by a few seconds. She is the first Ivy League athlete to win 7 individual NCAA Championships. She is also the only woman ever to have won both the 3000 meters and

5000 meters The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a stan ...

NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...

twice in a career which she did in 2013 as a junior and again in 2014 as a senior. Cooper broke Ryan Pandolfini’s (née Fagan) long-standing 10K record by over a minute in 2014, and is the current Dartmouth record holder in the 3K, 5K, and 10K. She won the Honda Sports Award as the nation's best female collegiate cross country runner in 2014. Cooper earned her final Ivy league titles May 2014. She graduated with a degree in psychology in 2014.

Professional

2012

Cooper's 5th place at 2012 Olympic Trials 5000 meters and nearly clinching a spot on the Olympic team is one of the closest finishes in Olympic Trials distance races (less than 0.19 seconds between 3–4–5). In 2012, at 20 years of age her platform as a star in the NCAA created a national following.

2014

After graduating from Dartmouth in 2014, Cooper earned a sponsorship with

based in Boston, Massachusetts. Abbey was coached by her college coach

Mark Coogan Mark J. Coogan (born May 1, 1966, Manhasset, New York, United States) is an American coach and retired American track athlete. Running career He attended Bishop Feehan High School in Attleboro, Massachusetts, and the University of Maryland ...

under whom she was a 7-time NCAA champion from 2014-2018. Cooper is ranked 19th in the world in the 5000 meters and 65th in the 10,000 meters in 2014. Cooper debuted as a

athlete in October 2014 in the 24th Mayor's Cup presented by the

Boston Athletic Association The Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) is a non-profit, running-focused, organized sports association for the Greater Boston area. The B.A.A. hosts such events as the Boston Marathon, the B.A.A. 5K, the B.A.A. 10K, the B.A.A. Half Marathon, the ...

placing fourth behind winner Rachel Hannah of Canada and the Boston Athletic Association's Juliet Bottorff and

Jen Rhines Jennifer "Jen" Rhines (born July 1, 1974 in Syracuse, New York) is an American long-distance runner who competes in track, cross country and road running events. She has competed in three different Summer Olympics and made 15 US Teams. Rh ...

2015

Cooper ran the 5000m in 15:42.79 at

Payton Jordan Payton Jordan (March 19, 1917 – February 5, 2009) was the head coach of the 1968 United States Olympic track and field team, one of the most powerful track teams ever assembled, which won a record twenty-four medals, including twelve golds. ...

Invitational in

Stanford, CA Stanford is a census-designated place (CDP) in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States. It is the home of Stanford University. The population was 21,150 at the 2020 census. Stanford is an unincorporated area of ...

(USA) on May 2, 2015. She won the 5000 meters at the

Hoka One One Hoka One One (stylized as HOKA) is an athletic shoe company originating in Annecy, France that designs and markets running shoes. The brand first gained attention in the running industry by producing shoes with oversized outsoles, dubbed "maximal ...

Adrian Martinez Classic in 15:23.66 on June 4. Cooper earned a US Roster spot to the IAAF

2015 World Championships in Athletics The 2015 IAAF World Championships ( zh, 第十五届世界田径锦标赛), the fifteenth edition of the IAAF World Championships, were held from 22 to 30 August at the National Stadium in Beijing, China. Forty-three nations won medals, 144 of ...

by qualifying in the 5000 meters in 15:06.59 at the

2015 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships The 2015 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships were held at Hayward Field, University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon. Organized by USA Track and Field, the four-day competition took place June 25–28 and served as the national championships i ...

. On July 18, she finished 3rd in 15:03.85 in

Heusden, Belgium Heusden was a municipality located in the Belgian province of East Flanders. In 1977 it merged with the municipality of Destelbergen, of which it is now part. It was mentioned for the first time in the 11th century, by abbot Othejbold. Years af ...

. On August 27, she finished 23rd in 16:16.47 at 2015 World Championships in Athletics – Women's 5000 metres.

2016

On January 2, Cooper ran a personal best in a mixed gender 3000 meters at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...

in 8:51.88. On March 12, she placed second in women 3000 meters in 8:57.31 at

2016 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships The 2016 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships was held at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Oregon. Organised by USA Track and Field (USATF), the two-day competition took place from March 11 to March 12 and served as the national cham ...

to represent the United States at 2016 IAAF World Indoor Championships – Women's 3000 metres. She finished in a time of 8:58.40 in 3000 meters at

2016 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 16th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held between March 17 and 20, 2016 in Portland, Oregon, United States. The event did not feature Russia. Following a WADA investigation into widespread and institutional doping practice ...

to place fifth. On June 17, Cooper placed third in 5000 meters at 2016 Adidas BOOST Boston Games in 15:22.29. On July 10, she placed fifth in 15:14.04 at 2016 United States Olympic Trials (track and field) and was selected to represent USA along with Team USA teammates Shelby Houlihan and

Kim Conley Kim Conley (born 14 March 1986 in Slough, United Kingdom) is an American track and field athlete, who competes in middle and long distance track events. She finished in third place at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials to qualify for the 2012 Olym ...

at Athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympics - Women's 5000 metres when

Molly Huddle Molly Huddle (born August 31, 1984) is an American long-distance runner who competes in track and cross country running events. Huddle set the American record in the 5000 m at the 2014 Herculis Diamond League meet in Fontvieille, Monaco (14:42. ...

and Emily Infeld passed to focus on their 10 km race in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

. On August 16, with about 2000 meters to go in a qualifying heat for the women's 5000 meter race at the 2016 Summer Olympics, Cooper tripped over Nikki Hamblin who had fallen in front of her. Instead of immediately continuing the race, she first helped Hamblin up, encouraging her not to quit. Cooper herself, however, had torn her ACL and

meniscus Meniscus may refer to: *Meniscus (anatomy), crescent-shaped fibrocartilaginous structure that partly divides a joint cavity *Meniscus (liquid) The meniscus (plural: ''menisci'', from the Greek for "crescent") is the curve in the upper surface ...

. Despite her obvious pain, she nevertheless finished the race. Cooper, Hamblin and Jennifer Wenth were advanced to the final because of the incident, but Cooper wasn't able to compete because of her injuries. On August 20, for their actions at the Rio Olympics, Cooper and Hamblin received Fair Play awards from The International Fair Play Committee (CIFP), with the support of the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

(IOC).

2017

Former NCAA champs

Molly Seidel Molly Seidel (born July 12, 1994) is an American long distance runner. Seidel represented the United States at the Great Edinburgh Cross Country in 2012, 2013, and 2018. In her first-ever marathon, Seidel placed second at the 2020 U.S. Marath ...

& Abbey Cooper return to action at

Franklin Park (Boston) Franklin Park, a partially wooded parkland in the Jamaica Plain, Roxbury, and Dorchester neighborhoods of Boston, Massachusetts, is maintained by the City of Boston Parks and Recreation Department. It is Boston's biggest park and the site of ...

2017 Mayor's Cup Cross Country Championships and chart paths to healthy futures finish 1st and 2nd respectively for 5 km after running the first half slow picked up the pace for the final 8 minutes to times of Seidel 16:18 to Cooper 16:48. On November 4, Cooper competed in her road debut at US 5 km road championship hosted by

New York Road Runners New York Road Runners (NYRR) is a non-profit running organization based in New York City whose mission is to help and inspire people through running. It was founded in 1958 by Ted Corbitt with 47 members and has since grown to a membership of more ...

Abbott Dash to the Finish Line 5 km where she finished 7th in a time of 16:00.

2018

Cooper left Mark Coogan and Boston after getting married in July 2018. She began being coached by Chris Layne in Asheville, North Carolina. Cooper won 5 km at 2018 Johnson City Turkey Trot in 16:58.

2019

June 1, 2019 marked Cooper's first return to the track following the Rio Olympics. Cooper competed at the

2019 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships The 2019 USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships were held at Drake Stadium on the campus of Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. Organized by USA Track & Field, the four-day competition took place from July 25–28 and served as the national c ...

in the 5000 meters race where she finished 14th.

2021

In a stand out solo effort in the first heat of the 5000m meters at the 2020 United States Olympic Trials (track and field), Cooper met the Olympic standard with a time of 15:07.80. Cooper finished in 4th place in the final three days later on June 21. Cooper achieved a new personal best of 14:52.37 in the 5000m at the

Prefontaine Classic The Prefontaine Classic, an Oregon Track Club event, is one of the premier track and field meets in the United States, held in Eugene, Oregon. Every year it draws a world caliber field to compete at Hayward Field on the campus of the University ...

on August 20, 2021.

Competition record

USA National Championships

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Abbey Living people 1992 births People from Topsfield, Massachusetts American female long-distance runners American female middle-distance runners Dartmouth Big Green women's cross country runners Dartmouth Big Green women's track and field athletes World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States Olympic track and field athletes for the United States Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Track and field athletes from Massachusetts Masconomet Regional High School alumni Sportspeople from Essex County, Massachusetts 21st-century American women