Elise Cranny running back to the Olympics for 2024

Niwot High School class of 2014 graduate, Elise Cranny, is headed to the Olympics for a second time this July. Cranny qualified to go to Paris to compete in the 2024 Olympics during the Team Trials in Eugene, Oregon, between June 21 and June 30. Cranny finished second in the 5000M at the trials on June 25 with a time of 14:40:36 - a mere 0.02 seconds behind the first-place finisher.

"I feel honored to be able to represent the U.S. at the Paris Olympics," Cranny said, "especially because the last Olympics was during Covid." She said that competing in Tokyo was a great experience, but regretted that she did not have her family, friends, and other main supporters there with her. "It was really hard," Cranny said, "so I'm excited to be able to share this experience [this time] with my family and friends and the people who have gotten me [where I am]."

Cranny's family was present in Eugene to support her as a part of #CrannyNation. A statement sent via text from her sister, Emily Cranny on behalf of the family, said, "Having Elise go back to the Olympics for a second time is such a blessing... It has been a blast to watch her fall in love with running all over again the past few months and watch her thrive."

Emily Cranny, speaking for the family, also spoke of how special it will be to go to Paris with Elise this year, since they could not go with her to Tokyo in 2021 when COVID restricted travel. "I remember the whole family getting up before 3 a.m. and going down to The Wheel House to watch the race live," recalled Emily. Emily recounted her family's gratitude to Eric Bergeson, owner of the Wheel House and a family friend, for being willing to open the restaurant doors for the community to watch and support Elise in the wee hours of the morning.

Cranny's running history has consisted of many milestones throughout her career. At Niwot High School, she won two cross-country state championships, two state track titles, and finished in fourth place at the 2014 World Junior Championships. She then attended Stanford University where she continued to compete and won several medals in the NCAA championships.

Professionally, Cranny now runs for Nike, and is working with Northern Arizona University assistant coach Jarred Cornfield. Leading up to the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, she qualified to go to the Olympics by coming in first place in the 5k during the trials. She then finished in 13th place in Tokyo.

During the 2023 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Cranny finished 12th in the 10K and 9th in the 5K.

Cranny's college teammate at Stanford, former Silver Creek High School athlete Valerie Allman, also qualified for the Olympics in the discus.