For 38 years, 11 months, and 16 days, Mary Decker owned the American record in the outdoor 3,000 meters. But on Thursday, Elise Cranny took it down, running 8:25.10 to place fourth at the Lausanne Diamond League.
Decker’s record of 8:25.83 from 1985 was the longest standing outdoor American record.
Cranny’s time is now the third-fastest overall time in American history. Elle St. Pierre (8:20.87) and Alicia Monson (8:25.05) have run faster indoors. Traditionally, the 3,000 is contested more frequently indoors, but it used to be run at the outdoor World Championships. Decker won both the 3,000 and 1500 meters at the 1983 World Championships in Helsinki, Finland.
It’s also not the only record Cranny owns. She holds the indoor 5,000-meter American record of 14:33.17, which she set at the Boston University Valentine Invitational in 2022.
In Thursday’s race, Cranny, 28, hovered in the middle of the pack for the opening laps. She came through 1600 meters in 4:32.20, in sixth place, before moving up as a pack of four formed on the last lap. She closed the final 400 meters in 63.80. Ethiopian runner Diribe Welteji won the race in 8:21.50.
It’s the first race for Cranny since running at the Olympics earlier in August. She qualified for the final of the 5,000 meters and finished in 11th place (14:48.06), one spot behind Karissa Schweizer, who also raced Lausanne and finished 7th in 8:34.96.
Cranny posted on Instagram after the Olympics, saying that “for 4,200 [meters], the Olympic final 5K was one of the best races I’ve run in my entire career” but admitted she was frustrated after falling off the lead pack during the final two laps.
“Not going to let the last 800 [meters] of this race stop me from continuing to race with joy, boldness and an unwavering belief that my time is coming,” she wrote.
At the Olympic Trials in June, Cranny finished runner-up to Elle St. Pierre in the 5,000 meters, running 14:40.36. She also contested the 1500 meters a week later but, despite setting a 3:57.87 PR, she finished 6th, outside of Olympic qualifying contention.
The past year has been marked by change for Cranny. She left her long-time training group, the Bowerman Track Club, in November and moved back to her home state of Colorado. She’s now coached by Northern Arizona University associate head coach Jarred Cornfield.
Editor’s note: The article originally stated that Decker’s 3,000-meter record was the second-oldest American outdoor record to her 2,000-meter record from 1984. However, Cory McGee broke that record on July 13. The article has been corrected.
Theo Kahler is the news editor at Runner’s World. He’s a former all-conference collegiate runner at Winthrop University, and he received his master’s degree in liberal arts studies from Wake Forest University, where he was a member of one of the top distance-running teams in the NCAA. Kahler has reported on the ground at major events such as the Paris Olympics, U.S. Olympic Trials, New York City Marathon, and Boston Marathon. He’s run 14:20 in the 5K, 1:05:36 in the half marathon, and enjoys spotting tracks from the sky on airplanes. (Look for colorful ovals around football fields.)
