MORE SURPRISED THAN HER. LOOK UP UNDERDOG IN THE DICTIONARY AND YOU SHOULD SEE A PICTURE OF FIONA O’KEEFE. AND I CERTAINLY DIDN’T GO IN WITH ANY EXPECTATION OF WINNING OR RUNNING. THE TIME THAT I DID. FIONA BROKE RECORDS VIRTUALLY EVERY STEP OF THE U.S. OLYMPIC MARATHON TRIALS. NOBODY THOUGHT YOU WERE GOING TO DO WHAT YOU DID. YEAH, YEAH, I DON’T THINK SO. I THINK, UM, I THINK MY COACHES MAYBE, LIKE, KNEW WHERE MY FITNESS WAS AND THOUGHT LIKE, OKAY, ON THE RIGHT DAY, GOOD THINGS COULD HAPPEN. BUT IT’S THE MARATHON. A LOT CAN GO WRONG OR IT CAN GO RIGHT. AVERAGING A 526 PER MILE PACE, FIONA PULLED AWAY FROM THE PACK RIGHT AROUND MILE 19. I WAS FULLY EXPECTING LIKE ONCE I MADE THAT MOVE FOR SOMEBODY ELSE TO TAKE OVER A COUPLE MILES LATER OR SOMETHING. UM, BUT NOBODY ELSE REALLY FULLY WENT WITH IT. EVEN FIONA’S MOM DIDN’T REALIZE THAT HER EXPECTATIONS WERE GETTING SHATTERED AND TOP 20 WOULD BE AMAZING. TOP TEN WOULD BE AMAZING. TOP FIVE WOULD BE INCREDIBLE, AND MAYBE THE LONG SHOT IS MAYBE. MAYBE SHE MAKES THE TEAM. I FEEL LIKE I WAS TRYING TO JUST STAY CALM UP UNTIL THAT LAST STRETCH OF THE RACE. AND THEN, YOU KNOW, I REALIZED, LIKE, OKAY, THIS IS HAPPENING. LIKE I’M GOING TO WIN THIS RACE. I’M GOING TO MAKE THE TEAM, MADE THE TEAM AND HISTORY, THE FIRST WOMAN TO WIN THE TRIALS IN A DEBUT AND A TRIALS RECORD BY THREE MINUTES. IT’S LIKE ONE OF THE BEST DAYS EVER THAT YOU CAN IMAGINE AS A FAMILY. THAT FAMILY IS, CHEERED FIONA IS AN OLYMPIC DREAM SINCE MIDDLE SCHOOL, THROUGH DAVIS HIGH SCHOOL AND STANFORD UNIVERSITY, WHERE SHE WAS A SIX TIME ALL-AMERICAN. SACRAMENTO. LET’S HELP OUT MOMS OUT HERE ON O’KEEFE. I GUESS I ALWAYS ENVISIONED IT BEING ON THE TRACK. UM, JUST BECAUSE THAT’S WHAT I GREW UP DOING AND WATCHING. UM, SO TO HAVE IT HAPPEN, LIKE AT THIS AGE IN THE MARATHON WAS DEFINITELY LIKE A BIT OF A PLOT TWIST. FIONA’S RECORD BREAKING MARATHON TRIALS TIME OF TWO 2210 IS TECHNICALLY FASTER THAN ANY OLYMPIC MARATHON GOLD MEDAL TIME. SINCE WOMEN’S MARATHON DEBUTED IN 1984. BUT OF COURSE, EVERY MARATHON IS DIFFERENT, AND THE PARIS COURSE WILL BE HILLIER AND HOTTER AND MORE HUMID MOST LIKELY THAN IT WAS IN ORLANDO. NO LONGER THE UNDERDOG. CAN YOU BELIEVE YOU’RE GOING TO PARIS? NO. IT’S STILL, LIKE, SO SURREAL. BUT I’M REALLY EXCITED. FIONA O’KEEFE WILL BE READY FOR HER SECOND MARATHON IN OLYMPIC STYLE ON THE ROAD TO PARIS. I’M DEIRDRE FITZPATRICK THAT PACE. 525 THAT’S CRAZY PER MILE FOR 26.2 MILE, IT’S JUST INCREDIBLE HOW FAST THEY GO FOR HOW IMPRESSED KYIV YEAH, DON’T MISS FIONA ON DEIRDRE FITZPATRICK PATRICK’S OLYMPIC PODCAST. DYING TO A