INDIANAPOLIS — Winning the Houston Marathon with the fastest time ever* by an American woman, Keira D’Amato (Midlothian, Virginia) earned recognition as the second USATF Athlete of the Week award winner for 2022. D’Amato, 37, ran away from the field on her way to a 2:19:12 that was 24 seconds faster than the ratified American record of 2:19:36, set at London in 2006 by Deena Kastor. In becoming the first American winner of the women’s marathon at Houston since Kelly Keane in 2005, D’Amato smashed the course record and sliced more than three minutes from her lifetime best. Fourth at Chicago last October, D’Amato claimed her first major marathon title with her win at Houston and moved to =22nd on the world all-time list as only the second American woman ever to break the 2:20 barrier. After a lengthy break midway through her running career, she has returned to the elite scene in a big way and moved into the all-time U.S. top 10 in the half marathon in December with a 67:55 personal best run. Other top performances from last week:
*Pending verification by USATF Records Committee Now in its 21st year, USATF’s Athlete of the Week program is designed to recognize outstanding performers at all levels of the sport. USATF names a new honoree each week when there are high-level competitions and features the athlete on USATF.org. Selections are based on top performances and results from the previous week. 2022 Winners: January 10, Alicia Monson; January 17, Keira D’Amato. We welcome your nominations! To nominate an athlete for USATF Athlete of the Week, please send a detailed email about his/her performance to communications@usatf.org. Fans can follow along with #USATF on Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook. Photo Credit: Johnny Zhang