Three former Dons track and field athletes competed in the 2024 Paris Olympics this summer.
Maor Tiyouri ‘14: Israel
Tiyouri, an Israeli long-distance runner, took part in her third consecutive Olympic Games. In her years as a Don, the marathon runner majored in kinesiology and was a member of four consecutive West Coast Conference (WCC) cross country champion teams. She ran twice in the NCAA Cross Country Championships, and made two 10,000-meter semifinal appearances. In her 2024 olympic run, she finished the marathon in 49th place. “In the last 10 years, since I graduated from USF, I grew up as a person and athlete. I believe and feel that I constantly made the right professional choices when it was needed in order to be successful.” Tiyouri said.
“Taking all this energy in from people I’ve encountered leading up to the race, the crowds in the marathon, and messages from strangers afterwards just makes all the sacrifices and hard work worthwhile,” she continued, “The Olympics are the pinnacle of our respective sports, but they also represent so much more than that, and I could really take in all of that with my experience this year, and be proud that I was a part of it.”
Lea Meyer: Germany
Meyer, a middle distance runner, has represented Germany through various international competitions, including the European and World Championships. Meyer competed in the women’s 3,000 meter steeplechase at the Paris Games. She achieved a personal best of 9:09.59 in the final race, where she finished in 10th place. Though not a USF alumna, she spent one year on the Hilltop, where she majored in international business and participated in the cross country and track and field teams. She finished fourth in her first collegiate race for the Dons at the 2017 USF Invitational with a time of 21:35.2. In 2022, she ranked 28th globally in the 3,000 meter steeplechase.
Lizzie Bird ‘18: United Kingdom
Bird was a member of the USF women’s cross country and track and field teams from 2017 to 2018. She majored in international studies, and competed in nine total cross country races in two seasons for the Dons. Her highlights at USF included a ninth-place finish at the 2017 WCC Championships, where she recorded a personal best of 20:12.8 in the 6,000 meter race. In Paris, she competed in the women’s 3,000 meter steeplechase and won a bronze medal. She set a national record finishing seventh, clocking a time of 9:04.35. This was her second consecutive appearance in the Olympics.
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