Hurley's half marathon earns her USATF Athlete of the Week honors

INDIANAPOLIS -- Leading Team USATF to a silver medal at the World Road Running Championships, Emma Grace Hurley (Indianapolis, IN/USATF Indiana) earned recognition as the 34th USATF Athlete of the Week award winner for 2026.

Hurley, who in May won the USATF 25K Championships and was the 5K Championships runner-up, cut more than a minute off her personal best in the half marathon to clock 66:23 and place fifth individually at the World Athletics Road Running Championships in Copenhagen. Her time moved her to No. 3 on the all-time U.S. performer list and was the fourth fastest ever by an American woman.

Leading a 5-6-7 finish for the U.S. squad, Hurley was key to the Americans earning a team silver with a 3:19:51 cumulative time for the scoring runners. That was a huge improvement over the seventh-place team effort at the inaugural WRRC in Riga, Latvia, three years ago.

Other top performances from last week:

• Drew Hunter bettered the American record in the men's 5K at the World Road Running Championships in Copenhagen with a 13:14, chopping three seconds off the pending AR set two weeks ago by Abdihamid Nur.
• Charlie Lawrence won the men's individual title and led Team USATF to the team trophy at the IAU 100K World Championships in Spain, running 6:09:25 to win by more than three minutes.
• Courtney Olsen won the women's individual title at the IAU 100K World Championships by more than a minute in 7:10:31.
• Maya Rayle was the women's runner-up at the WMRA Three Lakes Marathon in Poland, covering the hilly 21K course in 1:58:52.
• Paul Knight placed third in the men's 21K race at the WMRA Three Lakes Marathon in Poland with a time of 1:42:02.

Now in its 25th year, USATF’s Athlete of the Week program is designed to recognize outstanding performers at all levels of the sport. USATF names a new honoree each week when there are high-level competitions and features the athlete on USATF.org. Selections are based on top performances and results from the previous week. 

2026 Winners: January 15, Jonathan Simms; January 22, Michelle Rohl; January 29, Josh Hoey; February 5, Roisin Willis; February 12, Jordan Geist; February 19, Cole Hocker; February 26, Cynthia McNamee; March 5, Chase Jackson; March 12, Lauren Harris; March 19, Garrett Kaalund; March 26, Cooper Lutkenhaus; April 2, Rudy Winkler; April 9, Max Thomas; April 16, Sam Mattis; April 23, Tahmar Upshaw; April 30, Kaitlin Bounds; May 7, Karissa Schweizer; May 14, Anna Cockrell; May 21, Tatyana McFadden; May 28, Masai Russell; June 4, Joe Kovacs; June 11, Gabby Thomas; June 25, Tate Taylor; July 1, Jamal Britt; July 8, Nikki Hiltz; July 15, Jamal Britt; July 22, Cierra Jackson; July 29, Noah Lyles; August 13, Tate Taylor; August 27, Ethan Strand; September 3, Masai Russell; September 10, Chase Jackson; September 17, Melissa Jefferson-Wooden; September 24, Emma Grace Hurley.

We welcome your nominations!

To nominate an athlete for USATF Athlete of the Week, please send a detailed email about their performance to communications@usatf.org.

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