Gabriele Ivy Grunewald (''née'' Anderson; June 25, 1986 – June 11, 2019) was an American professional middle-distance runner who competed in distances from

800 meters The 800 metres, or 800 meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event sin ...

5000 meters The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a sta ...

. She represented the United States at the

2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics was the fifteenth edition of the international indoor track and field competition, organised by the IAAF. The event was held between 7–9 March 2014 at the Ergo Arena in Sopot, Poland. Prepar ...

and finished in ninth place in the 3000 meters. Grunewald was the national champion in the 3000 meters at the

2014 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships The 2014 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships was held at Albuquerque Convention Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Organized by USA Track and Field (USATF), the three-day competition took place February 21–23 in conjunction with the USA In ...

Early life

Grunewald was born in Perham, Minnesota to Kim and Laura Anderson. She competed for the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

where she was national runner-up in the

1500 meters The 1500 metres or 1500-metre run is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletics since 1983. It is equivalent to 1.5 kilometers ...

at the 2010 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships.GABRIELE ANDERSON SECOND IN NCAA 1,500 METERS
. gophersports.com. Retrieved on June 12, 2010.

Professional career

Grunewald turned professional in 2010, signing a contract with Brooks Sports. In 2011, she placed third nationally in the

mile run The mile run (1,760 yards, 5,280 Foot (unit), feet, or exactly 1,609.344 metres) is a middle-distance running, middle-distance foot race. The history of the mile run event began in England, where it was used as a distance for gambling ...

both indoors and outdoors. Over 1500 m, she was fourth at the 2012 United States Olympic Trials missing the Olympic Team by one place. Grunewald placed 11th in the 1500 m final at 2013 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Grunewald was the 2014 USA Indoor 3000 m champion. She was briefly disqualified on appeal from Jordan Hasay’s coach

Alberto Salazar Alberto Salazar (born August 7, 1958) is an American former track coach and long-distance runner. Born in Cuba, Salazar immigrated to the United States as a child with his family, living in Connecticut and then in Wayland, Massachusetts, where ...

that was based on contact Grunewald had with Hasay during the finals; however, Hasay later withdrew the appeal made on her behalf and Grunewald was reinstated as champion and awarded her

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

berth. She would finish 9th at the World Championships. Grunewald placed 13th in 1500 m final at

2015 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number) *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music * Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak album), 2007 * ''15'' (Phatfish album), 2008 * ...

. Grunewald placed 3rd at 2016 USATF 1 Mile Road Championships and 12th in 1500 m final at 2016 United States Olympic Trials (track and field). In what would be her final professional race, Grunewald ran 4:31.18 and placed 28th in 1500 m semi-final at

2017 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships The 2017 USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships were held at Hornet Stadium (Sacramento), Hornet Stadium on the campus of California State University, Sacramento in Sacramento, California, Sacramento, California. Organized by USA Track & Field ...

in 100-degree heat, in between chemotherapy treatments, and having had a fever just days before the race.

Personal life

In 2013, Grunewald married Justin Grunewald, an internal medicine physician whom she first met while they were both students at the

. In 2017, Brooks released ''Gabe'' (her nickname), a 26-minute

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

depicting her battle with cancer as well as her efforts to qualify for the 2017 World Championships. Grunewald had four siblings: three brothers (Ben, Caleb, and Zach) and a sister (Abigail); her sister was killed in a drunk-driving crash in August 2021, on her way to attending a women's soccer game in

Falcon Heights, Minnesota Falcon Heights is a suburb of Saint Paul, Minnesota, Saint Paul and a city in Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 5,369 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It became a village on Apri ...

Illness and death

Grunewald was diagnosed with

adenoid cystic carcinoma Adenoid cystic carcinoma is a rare type of cancer that can exist in many different body sites. This tumor most often occurs in the salivary glands, but it can also be found in many anatomic sites, including the breast, lacrimal gland, human lung, ...

, a rare type of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

, in 2009. Due to tumors, her salivary gland was removed in 2009 and her thyroid was removed two years later. She had surgery to remove a roughly five-by-six-inch cancerous tumor from her liver on August 26, 2016; a surgical oncologist performed a right hepatectomy to remove the tumor as well as the affected right lobe of her liver. In 2017, Grunewald suffered a

relapse In internal medicine, relapse or recidivism is a recurrence of a past (typically medical) condition. For example, multiple sclerosis and malaria often exhibit peaks of activity and sometimes very long periods of dormancy, followed by relapse or r ...

, with a

PET scan Positron emission tomography (PET) is a functional imaging technique that uses radioactive substances known as radiotracers to visualize and measure changes in Metabolism, metabolic processes, and in other physiological activities including bloo ...

revealing 12 small, inoperable tumors in her liver. In 2018, she founded the organization

Brave Like Gabe Brave(s) or The Brave(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Brave, an adjective for one who possesses courage * Braves (Native Americans), a Euro-American stereotype for Native American warriors Film and television * ''Brave'' (1994 film), a concept ...

to fund research and raise awareness surrounding rare cancers through local races. Grunewald died in

palliative care Palliative care (from Latin root "to cloak") is an interdisciplinary medical care-giving approach aimed at optimizing quality of life and mitigating or reducing suffering among people with serious, complex, and often terminal illnesses. Man ...

on June 11, 2019, two weeks before her 33rd birthday.

Personal bests

References

External links

*
Gabriele Grunewald at athletebiz.usGabriele Grunewald at bringbackthemile.comBrave Like Gabe foundation website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grunewald, Gabriele 1986 births 2019 deaths People from Perham, Minnesota University of Minnesota alumni Sportspeople from Minnesota World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States American female long-distance runners American female middle-distance runners Deaths from cancer in Minnesota USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winners Deaths from adenoid cystic carcinoma 21st-century American women Minnesota Golden Gophers women's track and field athletes