Molly Seidel born in Brookfield, Wisconsin, to Fritz and Anne Seidel, has one younger brother and one younger sister. After struggling during her early years at Notre Dame, she won four NCAA titles over seven months - the Cross Country title 2015, then the indoors 3000m and 5000m titles and 10,000m outdoors in 2016. She became the first high school Foot Locker Cross Country Champion (2011) to also win an NCAA cross country title. Seidel dealt with eating disorders, depression and multiple stress fractures in college and underwent hip surgery about a year before the Marathon Olympic Trials. Worked with the Girls Gotta Run Foundation in Ethiopia and has been to Bekoji twice to work with girls aged 12-16 in running and life skills coaching, a way to give back to the sport while dealing with injury. Qualified for the Marathon Trials with her half marathon performance at the 2020 Aramco Houston Half Marathon. Made her first Olympic team with her runner-up finish in Atlanta, her first career marathon. Seidel, at 25, became the youngest American woman to make an Olympic marathon team since 1992. She was a double major in anthropology and environmental science at Notre Dame. Her favorite movie is The Princess Bride and her go-to post-race indulgence is donuts. Seidel’s favorite quote is: "I can bear any pain as long as it has meaning." - Haruki Murakami.