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Dakotah Popehn, formerly Lindwurm, was the top American finisher at the Paris 2024 Olympic Marathon, finishing in 12th in 2:26:44. Shortly after the race, she received a surprise proposal from her boyfriend, Montana, and the two eloped just before she lined up for the 2024 TCS New York City Marathon. Earlier in 2024, she earned a spot on Team USA by finishing third at the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in Orlando, despite entering the event as the 10th-fastest American woman on paper.

She joined the Minnesota Distance Elite team in 2017 and made her Olympic Marathon Trials debut in 2020, finishing 36th. She then gained notoriety as a professional runner after claiming back-to-back victories at the Grandma’s Marathon in 2021 and 2022. In 2023, Lindwurm finished sixth at the United Airlines NYC Half and set a personal best of 2:24:40 at the Chicago Marathon, finishing in 12th place. In June of last year, she raced the Mastercard New York Mini 10K with New York Road Runners and threw out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium with the other members of the 2024 U.S. Women’s Olympic Marathon team, Fiona O’Keeffe and Emily Sisson.

Born and raised in St. Francis, Minn., Popehn’s parents divorced at a young age and she and her mother, Connie, experienced homelessness, sleeping in their car. She was a hockey goaltender in high school and at Northern State University, a small Division II school in South Dakota where she also walked onto the cross country and track teams and became an NCAA Division II All-American.