Former Missouri track great Karissa Schweizer records 2nd top-10 finish of Paris Olympics

Karissa Schweizer is taking home a pair of top-10 finishes from Paris.

The Missouri track and field and cross country great finished in ninth place in the women’s 10,000-meter final Friday at the 2024 Paris Olympics, backing up her 10th-place mark in the 5,000 on Monday.

Schweizer, who finished the 10,000 in a season-best 30 minutes, 51.99 seconds, was making her second straight appearance at the Olympics in both events after qualifying for the Tokyo games held in 2021.

She finished 11th and 12th in the 5,000 and 10,000, respectively, in Tokyo, meaning she improved on her placement in both disciplines in Paris.

More: Missouri track great Karissa Schweizer places 10th, leads U.S. runners in Olympics 5,000 final

The 2023 Missouri Hall of Fame inductee stayed with the leading pack in the 10,000 until the final lap, but ultimately ended up about nine seconds shy of gold medalist Beatrice Chebet, the world record holder out of Kenya, and a little less than eight seconds away from the podium.

Schweizer, 28, was the top runner from Team USA in the 5,000, and was second among the U.S. contingent in the 10,000 as Weini Kelati Frezghi finished one place ahead in eighth during Friday’s race.

During her time at Mizzou, Schweizer won six individual national titles between 2014-18 — a university record. She claimed four SEC championships during that same timeframe.

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The Mizzou star, who originally hails from Urbandale, Iowa, has battled injury problems since making her first Olympic appearance in Tokyo. She underwent surgery on her Achilles and suffered a calf injury that forced her to withdraw from the 2022 World Athletics Championships final.

Schweizer qualified for her second straight Olympics berth at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials in June in Eugene, Oregon, where she ran a 31:41:56 to take third among U.S. runners but fell short of the Olympic qualifying standard. She had to wait multiple days, while other nations conducted final qualifying, to see if she would be included in the Olympic field.

She ultimately was eligible for the 25-person final competing in Paris, and she now has a second top-10 finish to show for it.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Former Missouri track great Karissa Schweizer records 2nd top-10 finish of Paris Olympics