Weini Kelati Wins U.S. 10K Title, Punches Ticket to Paris

EUGENE, Ore. — Weini Kelati left nothing to chance with an epic kick at U.S. Olympic Trials at Hayward Field on Saturday, punching her ticket to the Paris Olympics in a month with her first U.S. title.

When her first attempt at putting some distance between herself and the field with 200 meters to go was matched with a response from Karissa Schweizer and Parker Valby, Kelati kicked into gear one last time over the final stretch, surging ahead on the inside of the track and outpacing them both to win it all in 31:41.07 after a 66.76 final lap.

As the only athlete in this year’s field who had already secured the Olympic standard, it would’ve been difficult to keep Kelati off the U.S. Team even if she had finished outside the top three on Saturday. Now, it’s a done deal.

Nearly a decade after she intentionally missed a flight home to her native Eritrea to start a new life in America, Kelati will be competing for Team USA this summer for her first Olympic Games. She became a naturalized U.S. citizen in June 2021, changing her national sports allegiance from Eritrea to the United States.

“It’s crazy, I get pretty emotional when I come here because of the memories back when I left my family,” Kelati said after the race. “But this year I just wanted to come out here, focus on my race, and just perform well at the race. It’s been affecting every race I do. This year I’ve worked mentally to get prepared with that.”

She will join two current Lobo men who are already headed to Paris — Habtom Samuel (Eritrea) will compete in the men’s 10,000m and Brodie Young (Great Britain) will run one leg of Team GB’s Mixed 4x400m Relay. Former Lobo national champion Josh Kerr, also of Great Britain, is widley expected to compete in the Men’s 1500m as well.

Kelati is one of the most decorated distance runners in New Mexico history — At the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships in 2017 and 2018, she finished seventh and second, respectively, helping the Lobos to their second NCAA Team Championship in Cross Country in 2017. She then went on to win the whole thing in 2019 with a 19:47.5 finish, 9.6 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher for the largest margin of victory since 2007 before being named the Honda Sports Award recipient for cross country as a result.

Kelati won a national title in the 10,000m at the 2019 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships, finishing in 33:10.84. She concluded her UNM career with 10 All-American honors as well as three MW Athlete of the Year Awards and two USTFCCCA Mountain Region Athlete of the Year Awards.