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What to know about Vermont Olympian Elle Purrier St. Pierre
The runner will compete for gold in tomorrow's 1500-meter final.
Olympic runner Elle Purrier St. Pierre made New England proud as she sprinted past the finish line in yesterday’s 1500-meter semifinal race at the Paris Games. From Montgomery, Vermont, the 29-year-old placed third with a time of 3:59:74.
Caught in the clump of runners during the last 500 meters of the race, she slowed to make her way out from the back, then swiftly pushed forward, overtaking Great Britain’s Laura Muir. After Tuesday’s race, where she finished with a time of 4:03:22, the 5’3” athlete is now through to the event’s final on Saturday, along with her teammate Nikki Hiltz.
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Here’s all to know about Elle St. Pierre:
She gave birth last year, but that hasn’t stopped her from breaking records.
The recent mother welcomed her son Ivan in March 2023.
“I had moments of second-guessing if I would get back to where I was,” she told Time Magazine.
But she has since had an extremely impressive post-pregnancy season, breaking her own U.S. indoor mile record at 4 minutes and 16.41 seconds at the Millrose Games this past February. Less than a month later, she set another U.S. record in Glasgow, winning gold in the 3000-meter at the World Athletics Indoor Championships.
“It was a hard decision to have a baby and put my career on pause,” she said. “And so now that I have done that, I just feel like this piece of me that was missing is now here. I feel more complete and so I’m more level-headed and happy.”
The Paris Games aren’t her first Olympic rodeo.
St. Pierre is now a two-time Olympian. She made her Olympic debut at the Tokyo Games three years ago, where she finished the 1500-meter in 10th place. Her time was 4:01:75.
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In this Instagram post, @elleruns_4_her_life (who now has more than 119,000 followers) reflects on her first experience at the Olympics.
She studied nutrition at the University of New Hampshire.
A 2018 graduate, St. Pierre is the school’s most decorated athlete and will be inducted into their Athletic Hall of Fame in October.
St. Pierre also attended Richford High School, which hosted a watch party on Thursday to show their support for the athlete.
She works on a dairy farm with her husband.
Growing up on a dairy farm and earning a degree in nutrition have helped the Olympian instill values of fitness, health, and hard work in her daily life, according to New Balance. She now lives and works on a farm with her high school sweetheart, Jamie St. Pierre, where they milk cows and produce maple syrup. The couple got married in 2020.
She is sponsored by New Balance.
After joining Team New Balance Boston in 2018, she has competed and earned medals in several events, from the 800-meter to the 5K.
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