Amy Yoder Begley (née Yoder; born January 11, 1978 in Topeka, Indiana) is an American middle and long-distance runner and a US Olympian in the 10,000 meter event at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

in Beijing. Yoder Begley lives in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital city, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georgia, Fulton County, the mos ...

, where she is coach of the

Atlanta Track Club Atlanta Track Club is a non-profit, running organization for the Atlanta metropolitan area in Georgia, United States. It hosts over 30 events a year including the Thanksgiving Day Atlanta Half Marathon/5K and the AJC Peachtree Road Race. Atlant ...

, assisted by her husband Andrew Begley.

High school career

Yoder Begley attended

East Noble High School East Noble High School is a public high school located in Kendallville, Indiana and is the only high school that is part of the East Noble School Corporation. It serves to educate more than 1,000 students from the cities and towns of Rome City, ...

Kendallville, Indiana Kendallville is a city in Wayne Township, Noble County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 9,862 at the 2010 census. History Kendallville was laid out in 1849. The city was named for Amos Kendall, 8th United States Postmaster Gen ...

. She was a four-time state champion (one cross country and three 3200 meter titles) and held the 3200 meter state record from 1996 until 2011 when it was broken by Culver Academy's Waverly Neer.

Collegiate career

Yoder Begley graduated from the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkans ...

in 2001. She was a two-time

NCAA 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 ...

champion and a 15-time All-American. She was 2000 SEC Female Athlete of the Year, and in 2016 she was selected to the Southeastern Conference 2016 Class of Women's Legends representing Arkansas. She won the

Honda Sports Award The Honda Sports Award is an annual award in the United States, given to the best collegiate female athlete in each of twelve sports. There are four nominees for each sport, and the twelve winners of the Honda Sports Award are automatically in th ...

as the nation's top female cross country runner in 2000.

Professional career

In 2006, Yoder Begley was diagnosed with

Celiac Disease Coeliac disease (British English) or celiac disease (American English) is a long-term autoimmune disorder, primarily affecting the small intestine, where individuals develop intolerance to gluten, present in foods such as wheat, rye and barle ...

. Yoder Begley was a Nike Oregon Project athlete from 2007 to 2011. She trained with

Galen Rupp Galen Rupp (born May 8, 1986) is an American long-distance runner. He competed in the Summer Olympics in 2008 in Beijing, 2012 in London, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro and 2021 in Tokyo. He won the silver medal in the men's 10,000-meter run in London ...

Kara Goucher Kara Goucher (born Kara Grgas on July 9, 1978) is an American long-distance runner. She was the 10,000 meters silver medalist at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics and represented the USA at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2012 London Olympi ...

Adam Goucher Adam Goucher (born February 18, 1975) is a retired American cross-country and track and field athlete. He ran for the United States at the 2000 Summer Olympics in the men's 5000 meters. Goucher primarily competed in distance events and is featu ...

, and Josh Rohatinsky under coach Alberto Salazar, who was later banned for life. Yoder Begley placed third in the 10,000 meters at the 2008

USA Track & Field USA Track & Field (USATF) is the United States national governing body for the sports of track and field, cross country running, road running and racewalking (known as the sport of athletics outside the US). The USATF was known between 1979 a ...

Olympic Trials in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census, ...

, setting a new personal record of 31:43.60 and qualifying for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. She placed 26th in the final of the 10,000 meters at the Olympics. Yoder Begley finished first in the 10,000 meter event at the 2009 USA Track & Field Championship on June 25, 2009, in Eugene, Oregon. This qualified her to compete in the 12th

IAAF World Championships in Athletics The World Athletics Championships (until 2019 known as the World Championships in Athletics) are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics (formerly IAAF, International Association of Athletics Federations). Alongside the O ...

held in Berlin. She finished in sixth place and set a new personal record with a time of 31:13.78. In 2013, she became the women's cross country coach and women's

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 ...

assistant coach at the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from H ...

. In December 2014 she was hired as the first full-time coach in the 50-year history of the

. Among her responsibilities are creating training programs for the club's 21,000 members and training two athletes for the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

Highlights

* 15-Time NCAA All-American in Cross Country and Track * 2-Time NCAA National Champion in Track * 2000 USA Olympic Trials Qualifier *2000

winner for cross country * 2001 Avon National 10k Champion * 2002 United States Team Member - Beijing Ekiden * 2002 RRCA Road Scholar Grant Recipient * 2002 Avon Global Championships Runner-up * 2004 USA Olympic Trials Qualifier * 2004 USATF 10k Road National Champion * 2008 US Olympic Team, 10k * 2009 USATF Indoor 3k champion * 2009 USA 15k Championship - 1st Place *

2009 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships The 2009 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships took place between June 25–28 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. The competition acted as a way of selecting the United States team for the 2009 World Championships in Athletics in Berlin later ...

10k, 1st place. Set personal and track record with a time of 31:22.69 *

2009 World Championships in Athletics The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg ...

10k, 6th place.

References

External links