Elmore likely Tokyo-bound after breaking marathon mark

Photo: Instagram / malindielmore

Kelowna native Malindi Elmore not only broke the Canadian marathon record, but she also could make her way back to the Olympic stage. 

Elmore ran 2:24:50 to finish third in the Houston Marathon on Sunday, shattering Rachel Cliff's mark of 2:26.56 set in March of last year

The 39-year-old was a talented high school runner who attended Stanford University before returning to Canada to do a master's degree at the University of Calgary.

Elmore competed for Canada at the 2004 Olympic Games, the 2006 Commonwealth Games and the 2011 Pan Am Games as a 1,500 metre specialist. Elmore ran one of the fastest times ever by a Canadian woman, at 4:02.64.

Elmore hung up her cleats back in 2012 and stepped away from professional running. 

Seven years later she ran a 2:32 marathon debut at Houston last January and exactly a year later, she became the Canadian record-holder.

Elmore was scheduled to race the Canadian Olympic Marathon Trials in Toronto in October but had to pull out only one week from the event because of a hamstring strain. She took a few weeks of downtime to allow her hamstring to recover before refocusing and getting ready for the Houston Marathon. 

Elmore has nearly guaranteed her spot for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. 

Her time is now the fastest-ever run by a Canadian, and barring someone beating the new record, she’s likely earned her place. 

The Olympic marathon team will be officially announced in May and the women's marathon is Aug. 8 in Sapporo.