Anna Willard (born March 31, 1984) is an American middle distance

runner Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. Running is a type of gait characterized by an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is ...

Personal

Willard grew up on a farm in

Greenwood, Maine Greenwood is a town in Oxford County, Maine, United States. The population was 774 at the 2020 census. The town was named for surveyor Alexander Greenwood. The village of Locke Mills, on State Route 26 in the northern part of Greenwood, is the ...

. She took up running as a high school student at Telstar High School in

Bethel, Maine Bethel is a town in Oxford County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,504 at the 2020 census. It includes the villages of Bethel and West Bethel. The town is home to Gould Academy, a private preparatory school, and is near the Sunda ...

. She competed as an undergraduate for Brown University and as a graduate student for the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

. Because Willard missed a track season at Brown due to injury, she had not exhausted her athletic eligibility prior to graduation. Therefore, she was able to compete for Michigan in 2007 as a graduate student. Anna became engaged to fellow American steeplechaser

Jonathan Pierce Jonathan Pierce Hildreth, better known as Jonathan Pierce (November 15, 1967—May 9, 2020), was an American CCM, gospel singer from Odessa, Texas and an interior designer in Nashville. Pierce used his first and middle name while omitting his l ...

at the 2008 U.S. Olympic trials and went by the name Anna Pierce during her marriage. She divorced Jonathan in 2014 and moved from London to Boston. She is especially known for dyeing her hair unusual colors. Her hair was blonde with pink streaks at the 2008 U.S. Olympic trials, and she dyed it purple before the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Career

Willard set the U.S. women's record for the

3000 meter steeplechase The 3000 metres steeplechase or 3000-meter steeplechase (usually abbreviated as ) is the most common distance for the steeplechase in track and field. It is an obstacle race over the distance of the 3000 metres, which derives its name from the ho ...

of 9:27.56 at the 2008 United States Olympic track and field trials on July 3, 2008, in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census ...

, en route to qualifying for the United States Olympic team. Willard's U.S. steeplechase record was eclipsed by teammate

Jennifer Barringer Jennifer Simpson (née Barringer; born August 23, 1986) is an American middle distance runner and steeplechaser. She represented the United States at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, 2012 London Olympics and 2016 Rio Olympics. She is a former American ...

at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Willard qualified for the Olympic final by finishing sixth in her heat, and placed tenth in the final with a time of 9:25.63. In 2009, Anna focused more on her

1500 m The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') 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 Athletic ...

and 800 m racing. She was victorious at the USA Indoor 1500 m, and the 800 m at the

Reebok Grand Prix The USATF New York Grand Prix is an annual athletics meeting held at Icahn Stadium in New York City, United States. First started in 2005 as the Reebok Grand Prix and then Adidas Grand Prix, it was previously one of the IAAF Grand Prix ev ...

and a Golden League meet in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

. Anna chose to run only in the 1500 m at the World Championships in Berlin, finishing 6th with a time of 4:06.19.

2015

Event Result Venue Date
1000m ind. 2:45.28 Boston (USA) 13.02.2015
1500m 4:26.61 Palo Alto (USA) 03.04.2015
Mile ind. 4:45.33 Boston (USA) 30.01.2015

2016

Event Result Venue Date
800m 2:04.18 Waltham (USA) 04.06.2016

References

External links

* * * * *
Anna Willard at NBC Olympics

Anna Willard
at GlobalAthletics.com
Anna Willard Returns to Racing
at RunnersWorld.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Willard, Anna 1984 births Living people American female middle-distance runners American female steeplechase runners Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic track and field athletes of the United States Brown Bears women's track and field athletes Michigan Wolverines women's track and field athletes People from Greenwood, Maine Sportspeople from Portland, Maine Track and field athletes from Maine USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winners IAAF World Athletics Final winners