Roisin Willis (born August 6, 2004) is an American middle-distance runner. She won the gold medal in the 800 meters at the 2022 World Under-20 Championships, adding second title for the women's 4x400 m relay. Willis is 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 an ...

champion.

Personal life

Her mother is Irish track athlete Breeda Dennehy-Willis, who competed at the

2000 Sydney Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

. Willis attended Stevens Point High School in

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. After graduation from high school, she attended

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, where she participates in cross country and

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 events ...

Career

Willis was successful as a high-school athlete. She is the U.S. high-school indoor 800 meters record holder. Her outdoor mark of 2:00.78 recorded in 2021 is a U.S. under-18 record. She holds Wisconsin state records in

400 m The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is o ...

, 800 m and 1600 m. Willis qualified to run in the 2020 US Olympic trials at

Hayward Field Hayward Field is a track and field stadium in the northwest United States, located on the campus of the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon. It has been the home of the university's track and field teams since 1921, and was the on-campus ho ...

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, Eu ...

, after running 2:00.78 for the 800 m at the Trials of Miles

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. At the Olympic trials she reached the semi-finals, finishing 13th. She took silver in the 800 m at the 2022 USATF U20 Outdoor Championships, Two months later, she won the event at the World U20 Championships held in

Cali Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,227,642 residents according to the 2018 census. The city spans with of urban area, making Cali the second ...

, Colombia, breaking the championship record with a personal best of 1:59.13. It was the first time she ran sub-two minutes in an 800 m race. She added gold for the women's 4 x 400 m relay with an official split time of 51.34.

Collegiate Career

As a freshman at Stanford, Willis won the 800m in a time of 1:59.93 at the NCAA Indoor T&F Championships in

Albuquerque, NM Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...

, setting a personal best, and meet and facility records in the process. She was also a member of the Stanford team that won the distance medley relay. That same year at the NCAA Outdoor T&F Championships she finished 4th in the 800m. Following her freshman year, she signed an NIL deal with New Balance prior to competing at the US Track and Field Championships.

Achievements

NCAA titles

* NCAA Division I Women's Indoor Track and Field Championships ** 800 meters:

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

** Distance medley relay:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Willis, Roisin 2004 births Living people Track and field athletes from Wisconsin American female middle-distance runners World Athletics U20 Championships winners American people of Irish descent Stanford Cardinal women's track and field athletes