Olympian shares Her-Story

Olympian Carrie Tollefson visited CSB+SJU on Tuesday to share her path to the largest international stage in sports at the “Her-Story” event. A Minnesota native, Tollefson grew up in the small town of Dawson, and by the time she graduated from Dawson-Boyd High School, Tollefson had accomplished one of the most highly decorated athletic careers in Minnesota state high school history. From 1990-94, she won five straight cross-country state titles and added eight more titles in the 1600- and 3200-meter runs during the track and field seasons. Her five consecutive state cross country titles set a national record that still stands to this day.

Tollefson recalled how she felt after running in the state cross country meet for the first time during her seventh-grade year, when she placed ninth overall.

“I told [my mom], ‘I’m not going back there unless I can stand on the top block of the podium.’ I went back the next year and stood on the top block. And the next four years after that,” Tollefson said. “I remember standing on that starting line and having confidence in something I had never done before, and I knew I could win that race.”

After high school, Tollefson headed east to Villanova University where she won the first individual national championship of her career at the 1997 NCAA Cross Country Championships. She followed this up in 1998 as the 11th place finisher, the fastest runner on the Villanova squad that won the team national championship title. Tollefson then swept the Indoor and Outdoor 3000 meter titles and claimed the Outdoor 5000 meter national title during the 1999 track and field seasons.

“Find what makes you tick and what makes you get out of bed in the morning. For me that is the sport of running. Life is messy but you can still have the fire, the will, the desire to make things happen for yourself,” Tollefson said.

In 2004 Tollefson made her international debut for the USA National team after winning the 1500 meter run at the U.S. Olympic trials. 

“Me, my coaches, my family, my sponsors, everyone thought I was a shoo in for the 5000 meter run. But with 1000 meters to go I had a mental lapse and told myself to relax. In that moment three people passed me, I ended up finishing sixth and didn’t qualify for the Olympics,” Tollefson said. “But I told my coach ‘I’m not done yet; I have one more race.’ The 1500 meter final was my third race in seven days. It was 116 degrees on the track; the sprinters were burning their fingers in the blocks. I was emotionally and physically drained. But I didn’t want to wait four more years for another chance at the Olympic games.”

The sole American in this event at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, she qualified for the semifinals out of heat one as a time qualifier but failed to qualify for the Olympic final.

“In Athens I took a moment and thought of everyone who helped me get there. I’ll never forget seeing myself on the Jumbotron. That moment has changed my life. I looked at myself and could say ‘I am now an Olympian.’ From that moment on I believed I could do anything,” Tollefson said. “I was recording with this little camera they gave me, and I turned around because the NBA guys were in line after us. I was bawling my eyes out and LeBron James was standing right behind me. As I panned the camera up I saw that he was crying as hard as I was.”

Tollefson kept up her national championship winning ways in 2006 with a pair of titles in the 4K race at the U.S.A. Cross Country Championships and the 3000 meters at the U.S. Indoor National Championships. Returning to the international circuit, she finished seventh in the 3000 meter run at the 2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships.

“After my career I had to reinvent myself and it definitely wasn’t easy. I went from knowing, my entire life, exactly who I was, to having to figure out for myself exactly who I was now. I realized, I’m not just a runner. I can be a runner, but I am also a mom, a wife, a broadcaster, an entrepreneur, a public speaker and a podcaster,” Tollefson said.

Despite seeing the end of her career in international racing, Tollefson has maintained her competitive spirit, lining up for many marathons and 5Ks over the years, even setting her own personal record in the marathon with a time of 2:52:00 at the 2019 Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon. The accolades have also kept accumulating, as she was inducted into the Minnesota High School Hall of Fame in 2015 and the National High School Hall of Fame in 2018.

“My biggest takeaway is that your story is never over. It can take a lot of time but you’ll get to where you need to be, and if you believe that you belong and you have confidence, you can really do anything,” CSB sophomore Mariah Brooks said.

In the years since her running career has come to a close, Tollefson has been a massive supporter and advocate for empowering women in sports. She credits her family, two older sisters and her parents, but specifically her mom with helping her get to where she is today. 

“My mom is the biggest sports fan I’ve ever met. She used to walk around the house with radio broadcast headphones on and every television in the house tuned to a different game during the March Madness tournament. When her and my dad were in high school she used to help go over the football scouting reports with him,” Tollefson said. “She grew up in a time when Title IX didn’t exist, so she never got the opportunities my sisters and I did to play sports. She is the most competitive person in our family, and I wonder about who she would have been if she could play sports like I could when I was young.”

CSB cross country and track and field head coach Robin Balder-Lanoue, along with many of her athletes, were in attendance for Tollefson’s presentation. Balder-Lanoue talked about why it was important for her team to be there.

“The inspiration. Being able to hear from someone who competed at the highest level about the successes but also pressing on through the failures, like not qualifying in the 5K and turning around to run the 1500 final at the Olympic trials,” Balder-Lanoue said. “I think it’s also important to realize that everyone has something they can work to achieve. Not everyone is going to be an Olympian, but there is always another level to aim for. My girls can always strive to PR, work hard and improve in everything they do.”

Some things that Tollefson preaches in her speeches and her daily life is being a leader, surrounding yourself with like-minded people and being true to yourself. 

“It is okay to brag about yourself a little bit, to look in the mirror and tell yourself that you belong. Don’t let anyone stand in your way, don’t let anyone dictate your outcome,” Tollefson said. “If you’ve got to be a little weird to be good at something, then go for it. Being weird got me these [Olympic rings] tattooed on my hand.”