Courtney Frerichs (born January 18, 1993) is an American

middle-distance runner Middle-distance running events are track races longer than sprints, up to 3000 metres. The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distance event. The 1 ...

and

steeplechase Steeplechase may refer to: * Steeplechase (horse racing), a type of horse race in which participants are required to jump over obstacles * Steeplechase (athletics), an event in athletics that derives its name from the steeplechase in horse racing ...

specialist from

Nixa, Missouri Nixa is a city in Christian County, Missouri, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 23,257. It is a principal city, and the second largest city in the Springfield, Missouri Metropolitan Statistical Area. History The ar ...

, She is a three-time silver medalist in the 3000 meters steeplechase capturing silver at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, the 2017 World Championships in London and at the 2018 World (Continental) Cup in Ostrava. In 2021, she became the first American woman to run under nine-minutes in a women’s 3000-meters steeplechase event with a time of 8:57.77; establishing an American and

Area Area is the quantity that expresses the extent of a region on the plane or on a curved surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape A shape or figure is a graphics, graphical representation of an obje ...

record. She is a two-time Olympian making the US team in 2016 and 2020. In both of her Olympic Trials she finished second to US National Champion,

Emma Coburn Emma Jane Coburn (born October 19, 1990) is an American middle-distance runner who specializes in the 3000-meters steeplechase. She holds the distinction of being a world champion, world silver medalist, Olympic bronze medalist, three-time Olym ...

. Frerichs made history at the 2017 World Championships where she and her teammate, Emma Coburn, finished 1-2 in the 3000-meters women’s steeplechase, with Coburn taking home the gold and Frerichs the silver medal, thus becoming the first female Americans to win the gold and silver medal in any individual World Championships or Olympics race longer than 400 meters since the 1912 Stockholm Games. In that race, they outran four of the five fastest women in the world which included the world record holder and 2016 Olympic gold medalist,

Ruth Jebet Ruth Jebet (born 17 November 1996) is a Kenyan-born long-distance runner and steeplechase specialist who competes internationally for Bahrain. She was the world record holder and was the 2016 Olympic gold medalist in the 3000 metres steeplechase, ...

, the defending champion and 2016 Olympic silver medalist, Hyvin Jepkemoi, the number one ranked runner in 2017,

Beatrice Chepkoech Beatrice Chepkoech Sitonik (born 6 July 1991)Beatrice Chepkoech

Celliphine Chespol, second fastest in the world. On July 20, 2018, at the Herculis meet in

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

, she finished in second place behind Beatrice Chepkoech's world record 8:44.32 performance. Frerichs' time of 9:00.85 moved her ahead of Coburn for the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

and North American (NACAC) records in the steeplechase and to 6th place on the all-time fastest list. Frerichs won the

NCAA title at the 2016 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships as a Lobo, setting a collegiate record of 9:24.41.

Nixa High School

As a Senior at Nixa Public High School, Courtney Frerichs earned all-conference, all-district, team MVP, KSPR-TV Athlete of the Week in cross country. Frerichs posted a freshman season-best time of 2:24 in 800 meters. She also set school records in the 5K (18:12), triple jump , and her team posted the best time for the 4x800-meter relay (10:02). Frerichs lettered for four years in soccer as a midfielder/forward where she earned All-district honors and was a two-time regional qualifier in gymnastics
In 2010, she was a level 9 gymnast
Frerichs attributes her accomplishments to gymnastics, strength training, and her teammates.

NCAA

Courtney Frerichs won the

national title at the 2016 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships as a Lobo, setting a collegiate record of 9:24.41 As of July 2017, Frerichs has run 4 of the 10 fastest times in US collegian history. She finished her career with four of the top 10 steeplechase times in NCAA history between her time at New Mexico and UMKC, and was a semifinalist for

the Bowerman The Bowerman is an annual track and field award that is the highest accolade given to the year's best student-athlete in American collegiate track and field. It is named after Oregon track and field and cross country coach Bill Bowerman and is ...

Award. Frerichs earned seven

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

All-American honors competing in Cross Country, and Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field for the UMKC Kangaroos and the New Mexico Lobos. On grass in 2015, Frerichs captured her third All-American honor in cross country with a fourth-place finish of 19:48.0 at the NCAA Championships, leading the New Mexico Lobos to a dominant national championship victory.

Early championship races

Courtney placed sixteenth in 2012 World Junior Championships in Athletics – Women's 3000 metres steeplechase. Frerichs finished 14th at 2012 Junior

USA Cross Country Championships The USA Cross Country Championships is the annual national championships for cross country running in the United States. The championships is generally held in mid-February and it serves as a way of designating the country's national champion, a ...

. Courtney Frerichs placed fourth 2014 NACAC U23 Steeplechase.

Professional

2016

Frerichs placed 11th at Athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Women's 3000 metres steeplechase running 9:22.87. Frerichs represented USA at Athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

2017

Courtney placed 4th at the 2017 USATF Cross Country Championships in Bend, Oregon. Frerichs placed 2nd in the steeplechase at

2017 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships The 2017 USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships were held at Hornet Stadium on the campus of California State University, Sacramento in Sacramento, California. Organized by USA Track & Field, the four-day competition took place June 22–25 an ...

running 9:22.23, and commenting, "Having a positive mindset is huge": Improving substantially, she placed 2nd at

2017 World Championships in Athletics Seventeen or 17 may refer to: * 17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18 * one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017 Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine * ''Seventeen'' (Japane ...

running a then personal best of 9:03.77.

2018

Courtney started her 2018 season with a 33:55.1, 4th place in 10 km at the 2018

. The finishing times for her teammates were Emily Infeld in 33:18.7 (3:19.9/km),

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 ...

33:22.1, Stephanie Bruce 33:34.1, Emily Durgin 33:56.9, and Susan Tanui 34:39.0. The six qualified for Team USA at 2018

NACAC Cross Country Championships The NACAC Cross Country Championships is an annual regional cross country running competition for athletes representing member nations of the North America, Central America and Caribbean Athletic Association (NACAC). The event was inaugurated in 2 ...

La Libertad, El Salvador La Libertad (English: ''Liberty'') is a municipality in the La Libertad Department of El Salvador. It had a population of 35,997 inhabitants in 2007 according to the official census of that year. It is one of the main tourist attractions in the ...

on February 17, 2018. Frerichs was among leaders until the final lap. During the last 2 km, Courtney maintained a pace of approximately 3:23/km. Frerichs placed 2nd in the steeplechase at

2018 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships The 2018 USA Outdoor Track and Field 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 June 21–24 and serves as the national champ ...

running 9:18.69. Frerichs set an American Record in the 3000 meter steeplechase, running 9:00.85, finishing in second place. Frerichs was selected to represent Team Americas and placed 2nd in the steeplechase at 2018 IAAF Continental Cup running 9:15.22.

2019

Frerichs began her 2019 season with a 6th place in 10 km at the 2019 USA Cross Country Championships. On June 30, 2019, she ran 9:09.75 to place fifth behind world record holder

Beatrice Chepkoech Beatrice Chepkoech Sitonik (born 6 July 1991)Beatrice Chepkoech

Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fourteen of the best invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics (formerly known as the IAAF) one-day mee ...

steeple 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 ...

held in

Stanford, California 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 United States Census, 2020, 2020 census. Stanford is ...

. In

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

on July 28, running 9:26.61, Frerichs finished second at the 2019 USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships, in the steeplechase to

, who ran 9:25.63 and who was the defending World Champion from 2017. Each qualified for the 2019 World Championships in

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

in September and Frerichs finished 6th in the 3000 M Steeplechase in a time of 9:11.27.Boise State alum Allie Ostrander takes 4th at USATF Championships
''

KTVB KTVB (channel 7) is a television station in Boise, Idaho, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Tegna Inc. The station's studios are located on West Fairview Avenue (off I-184) in Boise, and its transmitter is located at the Bogus Bas ...

'', Jay Tust, July 28, 2019. Retrieved July 29, 2019.

2021

Frerichs placed second in steeplechase behind

at the 2020 US Olympic Trials to qualify to represent the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics. She won the silver medal at the Olympics with a time of 9:04.79, finishing behind

Peruth Chemutai Peruth Chemutai (born July 10, 1999) is a Ugandan steeplechase runner. She won the gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo in the women's 3000 metres steeplechase race, becoming the first Ugandan woman ever to win an Olympic medal. Hai ...

and ahead of Hyvin Kiyeng Jepkemoi.

Competition record

References

External links

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Frerichs, Courtney 1993 births Living people American female steeplechase runners American female long-distance runners American female middle-distance runners People from Nixa, Missouri Track and field athletes from Portland, Oregon Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the United States in track and field New Mexico Lobos women's track and field athletes Kansas City Roos athletes People from Mundelein, Illinois Sportspeople from Lake County, Illinois World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States World Athletics Championships medalists Track and field athletes from Illinois Track and field athletes from Missouri