University of New Hampshire Athletics
UNH Alum Elle Purrier St. Pierre Places 10th in Olympic Finals
8/6/2021 9:15:00 AM | General, Women's Cross Country, Women's Track & Field
TOKYO – Elle Purrier St. Pierre, a 2018 graduate of the University of New Hampshire and member of Team USA, finished 10th in the Aug. 6 Olympics final of the women's 1,500-meter run at Olympic Stadium in Tokyo. She crossed the finish line with a time of 4 minutes, 1.75 seconds.
Purrier St. Pierre advanced to the 1,500m finals by running a qualifying time of 4:01.00 in heat 1 of the Aug. 4 semifinals.
"It was really emotional. I know I gave it my all ," Purrier St. Pierre said in a post-race interview. "I left everything on the track. I'm really proud of myself. So walking off, I wasn't disappointed. Even though I didn't make it in the top five, I was really hopeful because I knew that it was a fast heat. It was just waiting for those 10 minutes or so to find out was really stressful, but obviously I'm happy now."
The top five runners from both of the two heats as well as the next two fastest times qualified to the finals. Purrier St. Pierre placed sixth in Heat 1, but her time of 4:01.0 proved to be the fastest non-automatic qualifying time -- and eighth fastest overall in the semis -- to put her through to the finals.
In the semifinals, Purrier St. Pierre ran in third place on the inside lane for the first 700m. The lead pack of five runners began to pull away with 300m remaining and the Vermont native was in seventh place down the final stretch, but she surged back into sixth place with a strong kick in the last 40 meters to put her into position to advance to the finals.
Purrier St. Pierre made her Olympics debut Aug.1 in the first round of the women's 1,500-meter run and advanced to the semifinals by placing third in Heat 2 with a time of 4 minutes, 5.34 seconds. The top six runners of each of the three heats in the first round -- plus the next six fastest runners -- advanced to the semifinals.
Purrier St. Pierre was near the front of the Heat 2 lead pack -- ranging from third-to-fourth place while running the inside lane -- and then maneuvered to the front of the pack with 400m remaining. She remained in the lead until the final 40 meters, but easily held onto third place to advance to the semifinals.
Purrier St. Pierre made the 2021 U.S. Olympic Team by winning the 1,500m at the track & field U.S. Olympic Team Trials at Hayward Field on June 21 with a personal-best time of 3 minutes, 58.03 seconds. CLICK HERE to read the U.S. trials recap.
In the 2021 calendar year, Faith Kipyegon of Kenya has the fastest 1,500m time of 3:51.07. The Olympic field also includes Sifan Hassan (Netherlands; 3:53.60), Freweyni Gebrezzibeher (3:56.28) and Diribe Welteji (3:58.93) of Ethiopia, as well as Laura Muir (3:55.59) of Great Britain and Linden Hall (3:59.67) of Australia, all of whom ran a sub-4 1,500m time in 2021 (pre-Olympics).
Purrier St. Pierre is the fifth Wildcat with a tie to the UNH track & field program to represent the United States at the Olympics. Richmond "Boo" Morcom '47 competed in the pole vault in the 1948 Olympics, Jeffrey Bannister '70 represented Team USA in the decathlon at the 1972 games, and Joanne Dow '86 competed in the race walk at the 2008 Olympics. Clare Egan '11 went on to compete in the biathlon at the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Purrier St. Pierre was an 11-time All-American and 17-time America East champion across UNH's cross country, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field teams; she was the NCAA national champion in the mile at the 2018 indoor meet.
She also excelled in the classroom by completing a double major of Nutrition: Wellness and EcoGastronomy in May 2018 with a 3.71 cumulative grade point average.
Purrier St. Pierre swept the America East conference Scholar-Athlete season awards for women's cross country, women's indoor track & field and women's outdoor track & field in both the 2016-17 and 2027-18 academic years. She was also named the America East Scholar-Athlete of the Year both years.
Purrier St. Pierre holds six individual records and is part of four record relays in the UNH record book. On the indoor leaderboard, she is at the top of the list in the 800 meters (2:03.64), 1,000m (2:46.02), mile (4:26.55) and 3,000m (8:55.68); she is also part of the record distance medley relay team. On the outdoor leaderboard, she is the top 'Cat in the 1,500m (4:10.08) and steeplechase (9:43.65), as well as the sprint medley, 4x800m and 4x1,500m relays; she also graduated as the UNH record holder in the 800m.
Her name in more than the school's record book. At the 2020 Millrose Games, Purrier St. Pierre ran the second-fastest women's indoor mile in history and broke a 37-year old American record with a time of 4:16.85. And in February 2021, she broke the American indoor 2-mile record in 9:10.28.
In the 2017 cross country season at UNH, Purrier St. Pierre won her third America East individual title to lead the Wildcats to a fifth consecutive team title; she went on to repeat as NCAA Northeast Regional champion, was named Regional Runner of the Year and placed 18th at the NCAA Championships.
Purrier St. Pierre advanced to the 1,500m finals by running a qualifying time of 4:01.00 in heat 1 of the Aug. 4 semifinals.
"It was really emotional. I know I gave it my all ," Purrier St. Pierre said in a post-race interview. "I left everything on the track. I'm really proud of myself. So walking off, I wasn't disappointed. Even though I didn't make it in the top five, I was really hopeful because I knew that it was a fast heat. It was just waiting for those 10 minutes or so to find out was really stressful, but obviously I'm happy now."
The top five runners from both of the two heats as well as the next two fastest times qualified to the finals. Purrier St. Pierre placed sixth in Heat 1, but her time of 4:01.0 proved to be the fastest non-automatic qualifying time -- and eighth fastest overall in the semis -- to put her through to the finals.
In the semifinals, Purrier St. Pierre ran in third place on the inside lane for the first 700m. The lead pack of five runners began to pull away with 300m remaining and the Vermont native was in seventh place down the final stretch, but she surged back into sixth place with a strong kick in the last 40 meters to put her into position to advance to the finals.
Purrier St. Pierre made her Olympics debut Aug.1 in the first round of the women's 1,500-meter run and advanced to the semifinals by placing third in Heat 2 with a time of 4 minutes, 5.34 seconds. The top six runners of each of the three heats in the first round -- plus the next six fastest runners -- advanced to the semifinals.
Purrier St. Pierre was near the front of the Heat 2 lead pack -- ranging from third-to-fourth place while running the inside lane -- and then maneuvered to the front of the pack with 400m remaining. She remained in the lead until the final 40 meters, but easily held onto third place to advance to the semifinals.
Purrier St. Pierre made the 2021 U.S. Olympic Team by winning the 1,500m at the track & field U.S. Olympic Team Trials at Hayward Field on June 21 with a personal-best time of 3 minutes, 58.03 seconds. CLICK HERE to read the U.S. trials recap.
In the 2021 calendar year, Faith Kipyegon of Kenya has the fastest 1,500m time of 3:51.07. The Olympic field also includes Sifan Hassan (Netherlands; 3:53.60), Freweyni Gebrezzibeher (3:56.28) and Diribe Welteji (3:58.93) of Ethiopia, as well as Laura Muir (3:55.59) of Great Britain and Linden Hall (3:59.67) of Australia, all of whom ran a sub-4 1,500m time in 2021 (pre-Olympics).
Purrier St. Pierre is the fifth Wildcat with a tie to the UNH track & field program to represent the United States at the Olympics. Richmond "Boo" Morcom '47 competed in the pole vault in the 1948 Olympics, Jeffrey Bannister '70 represented Team USA in the decathlon at the 1972 games, and Joanne Dow '86 competed in the race walk at the 2008 Olympics. Clare Egan '11 went on to compete in the biathlon at the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Purrier St. Pierre was an 11-time All-American and 17-time America East champion across UNH's cross country, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field teams; she was the NCAA national champion in the mile at the 2018 indoor meet.
She also excelled in the classroom by completing a double major of Nutrition: Wellness and EcoGastronomy in May 2018 with a 3.71 cumulative grade point average.
Purrier St. Pierre swept the America East conference Scholar-Athlete season awards for women's cross country, women's indoor track & field and women's outdoor track & field in both the 2016-17 and 2027-18 academic years. She was also named the America East Scholar-Athlete of the Year both years.
Purrier St. Pierre holds six individual records and is part of four record relays in the UNH record book. On the indoor leaderboard, she is at the top of the list in the 800 meters (2:03.64), 1,000m (2:46.02), mile (4:26.55) and 3,000m (8:55.68); she is also part of the record distance medley relay team. On the outdoor leaderboard, she is the top 'Cat in the 1,500m (4:10.08) and steeplechase (9:43.65), as well as the sprint medley, 4x800m and 4x1,500m relays; she also graduated as the UNH record holder in the 800m.
Her name in more than the school's record book. At the 2020 Millrose Games, Purrier St. Pierre ran the second-fastest women's indoor mile in history and broke a 37-year old American record with a time of 4:16.85. And in February 2021, she broke the American indoor 2-mile record in 9:10.28.
In the 2017 cross country season at UNH, Purrier St. Pierre won her third America East individual title to lead the Wildcats to a fifth consecutive team title; she went on to repeat as NCAA Northeast Regional champion, was named Regional Runner of the Year and placed 18th at the NCAA Championships.
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