Jenny Simpson
- Age: 29 at time of Rio Olympics
- Height: 5'5"
- Weight: 118
- Hometown: Oviedo, Fla.
- At CU: Four NCAA track and field titles, three in steeplechase, one in indoor 3,000 meters.
Medal: Bronze
- Event: 1,500-meter race
- Time: 4 min., 10.53 sec
Prior Olympic appearances:
- Where do you keep your medal:
- It's currently in a sock in my suitcase
- Who has worn your medal:
- Everyone I've taken photos with. Friends, family and fans
- Pre-race ritual:
- Braiding my hair
- Last meal eaten before Olympic medal race:
- Rice with grilled vegetables
- First meal after race:
- Black bean soup with wild rice and chicken (I cooked it myself at 2 a.m. in my apartment in Rio.)
- No. pairs of running shoes brought to Rio:
- 9, including 3 pairs of spikes
- No. days between Olympic medal and next race:
- 11
- 1st
- American woman to medal in the 1,500-meter race
- Days off after medal race before next training session:
- 0
- Miles typically run per week:
- 80
- Days off:
- 0
- Hours slept night before medal race:
- 10
"The last 100 meters, when I was running my guts out, that’s my favorite part of the race,” she told the Denver Post. “I love this sport. I love how competitive it is, I love how hard the 1,500 meters is."
Emma Coburn
- Age: 25 at time of Rio Olympics
- Height: 5'8"
- Weight: 120
- Hometown: Crested Butte, Colo.
- At CU: Three-time NCAA champion, twice in steeplechase, once in indoor mile.
Medal: Bronze
- Event: 3,000-meter steeplechase
- Time: 9 min., 7.63 sec
Prior Olympic appearances:
2012 London
- Where do you keep your medal:
- In my suitcase or my purse, because I've been traveling so much. Once I'm home I'll probably keep it on a bookshelf.
- Who has worn your medal:
- Hundreds of people. The day I won it I was letting every single stranger in Rio try it on and walk around with it.
- Pre-race ritual:
- The meal that I have is probably the most rigid part of my routine.
- Last meal eaten before Olympic medal race:
- Bagel with banana and peanut butter, the same meal I always eat three hours before the gun goes off.
- First meal after race:
- Recovery bars. Probably cheesecake and a burger.
- No. pairs of running shoes brought to Rio:
- 2 spikes, 3 pairs training shoes
- No. days between Olympic medal and next race:
- 12
- 1st
- Olympic steeplechase medal for a U.S. woman; her time beat her own American record in the event.
- Days off after medal race before next training session:
- 0
- Miles typically run per week:
- 80
- Days off:
- 0
- Hours slept night before medal race:
- 8
"The last four or five laps were tough. I just kept on telling myself to keep chipping away at the gap and once I got my position, all I wanted to do was to hold it. It wasn’t until the last 400 or 600 meters when I realized that I had it and just couldn’t lose it."
Sources: teamusa.org; the athletes; CU Boulder
