Emma Coburn

Emma Coburn (born October 19, 1990) is an American middle-distance runner who specializes in the 3000 meter steeplechase. At the 2017 World Championships in London, Coburn won the 3000 metres steeplechase with a time of 9.02.58, breaking her own American record. This made her the first American woman to win a gold medal in the steeplechase at either the World Championships or the Olympics. Previously, she set an American record of 9:07.63 in the 3000 meter steeplechase to win a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympic Games. This also made her the first American woman to win any Olympic medal in that event. Her other achievements in the event include reaching the 2012 Olympic final (8th), and the World Championship finals in 2011 (10th) and 2015 (5th). She also won the 2014 IAAF Continental Cup. She is an eight-time (2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019) United States National Champion.

Coburn attended Crested Butte Community School. She finished second in the 2008 Nike Outdoor Nationals Track and Field Championships 2000 meter steeplechase in 6:42.

Coburn is a three-time NCAA champion (two steeplechase titles and one indoor mile title) and six-time All-American.

While attending the University of Colorado in 2010, Coburn won the Pac-12 steeplechase title as a sophomore and finished second in the NCAA championships.

In 2011, as a junior, Coburn won both the Pac-12 indoor 3000 meter title, and the Pac-12 and NCAA outdoor title in the 3000 meter steeplechase. Coburn won the 2011 USA outdoor title in the steeplechase and made the US steeple team at the World Championships in 2011, finishing 12th in the final. During her senior year in cross country, Coburn finished in 20th place over the six-kilometer distance at the NCAA national cross country championships and was Colorado's 2nd place runner, contributing to an 11th-place team finish.

In her first steeplechase of the 2012 season, Coburn became the fourth-fastest American in history and the fastest American on US soil with her time of 9:25.28. The time was a 12-second PR for Coburn, who redshirted the 2012 outdoor season at Colorado to focus on the Olympic Trials.

Coburn was named the Pac-12 Track Athlete of the Week on April 30, 2013, after recording the best 3,000 steeplechase time in the world for the season.

Coburn qualified for the 2012 U.S. Olympic team in the 3000 meter steeplechase, joined in the event by her University of Colorado teammate Shalaya Kipp. At age 21, Coburn was the youngest runner on the American team at the 2012 Olympics. In her Olympic heat, she placed third with a time of 9:27.51, automatically qualifying for the final. She came in 9th in the final, with a time of 9:23.54 – a then personal best.

In 2014, Coburn improved her 3000 m steeplechase best four times. At the Shanghai Diamond League meeting, she ran 9:19.81 before improving to 9:17.84 for third at Eugene and 9:19.72 to win her third US title in Sacramento. At the Paris Diamond League meeting, she ran a 9:14.72 for a second-place finish. This moved her to second on the US all-time list behind Jenny Simpson. At the Diamond League meet in Glasgow, Scotland, she broke Simpson's American record of 9:12.51 by running 9:11.42 and finishing second in the race to Hiwot Ayalew.

In 2015, Coburn's indoor mile ranked 28th in the world. Coburn ran an Olympic qualifying time (1500m) of 4:05.1 in Eugene, Oregon, at the Prefontaine meet in May. She won the steeplechase at the 2015 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships to qualify for the 2015 World Championships in Athletics, where she placed fifth.

In 2016, Coburn opened her outdoor season running 4:06.92 in the 1500 meters at Hoka One One Middle Distance Classic hosted at Occidental College. She set a new American record shortly thereafter at the Prefontaine Classic at Hayward Field, where she ran 9:10.76 in the 3000 meter steeplechase. Coburn broke the American record for a third time, earning bronze in 9:07.63 in the 2016 Olympic steeplechase and becoming the first American woman to win an Olympic medal in the 3000 meters steeplechase. Coburn placed ninth in 4:23.8 at the 2016 Fifth Avenue Mile.

On December 2, 2016, Coburn announced on her Twitter account that she was leaving Coach Mark Wetmore after "an amazing 8 years." She moved coaches to her then fiancé, Joe Bosshard.

On May 5, 2017, Coburn opened her outdoor season at the IAAF Diamond League 2017 Doha Qatar Athletic Super Grand Prix, racing the steeplechase in 9:14 to place 5th. She then took gold in the 2017 World Championships on August 11 in London. This championship made her the first American woman to win a gold medal in the steeplechase at either the World Championships or the Olympics. Four of the Kenyan-born women she beat in that race, including Olympic champion/world record holder Ruth Jebet had previously run faster than Coburn. Courtney Frerichs won a silver medal at the same event, thus making Coburn and Frerichs the first Americans to win the gold and silver medal in any individual World Championships or Olympics race longer than 400 meters since the 1912 Stockholm Games.

In January 2018, Coburn opened her indoor season at Western State Colorado University, where she ran a then Colorado state record mile (at 7717 feet elevation) (since broken by Dani Jones on February 3, 2018, 4:36.05-mile in the University of Colorado's Indoor Practice Facility at 5430 feet elevation). Coburn followed her mile victory with a pair of 3000 meters races, first on February 3 at the Millrose Games in 8:41.16, a runner-up finish to teammate Aisha Praught-Leer who ran 8:41.10, and then at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix on February 10, 2018, at the Reggie Lewis Center where her time of 8:43.57 placed 4th. Coburn finished 3rd in the 3000 meters at the 2018 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships behind winner Shelby Houlihan and runner-up Katie Mackey.

On June 30, 2019, she ran 9:04.90 to place second behind world record-holder Beatrice Chepkoech in the star-studded Diamond League steeple at the Prefontaine Classic held in Stanford, California. On July 28, Coburn ran 9:25.63 at the 2019 USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships. Since she was the defending World Champion from 2017, she already was an automatic qualifier for the 2019 World Championships. Second was U.S. record-holder Courtney Frerichs, who ran 9:26.61, and also qualified to run in Doha, Qatar in September.

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing the  United States
2011	World Championships	Daegu, South Korea	8th	3000 m steeplechase	9:51.40
2012	Olympic Games	London, United Kingdom	8th	3000 m steeplechase	9:23.54
2015	World Championships	Beijing, China	5th	3000 m steeplechase	9:21.78
2016	Olympic Games	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	3rd	3000 m steeplechase	9:07.63
2017	World Championships	London, United Kingdom	1st	3000 m steeplechase	9:02.58 CR
2019	World Championships	Doha, Qatar	2nd	3000 m steeplechase	9:02.35

USA National Championships

In October 2017, Coburn organized the Crested Butte, Colorado, Elk 5 km race as a charity fundraiser for the Crested Butte Cancer Support Community. Also that month, she married Joe Bosshard.