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By Nicole Ki, Minnesota Public Radio News

Marathon runner Dakotah Lindwurm became the first Minnesotan to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Team heading to the summer games in Paris.

On Saturday, she came in third place during an Olympic Trials race in Orlando, Fla.

Lindwurm is a member of Minnesota Distance Elite, a training group based in the Twin Cities that has developed high-level marathon runners. Head coach Chris Lundstrom, said making it to the Olympics is a huge accomplishment for Lindwurm.

He said she spent December and January training in Florida for the qualifying race. He believes she’s come a long way from competing at the Olympic Trials in 2020, when she did not make the national team.

“It’s pretty magical,” said Lundstrom. “Lots of people, regardless of what sport you’re in, have Olympic dreams and she’s somebody who had that since she was a kid. To see it all come together and to be able to be a part of it, it’s all still kind of sinking in, I think. But it’s really just an incredible feeling.”

Lindwurm, a St. Francis native, competed in high school and collegiate track and cross country. Then in 2018 she started focusing on professional distance running.

Over the years, Lundstrom said Lindwurm has trained up to be a “gritty competitor.”

“She’s what you would call like a grinder of a racer,” said Lundstrom, who has worked with her since she joined Minnesota Distance Elite in 2018.

“She just locks into her correct pace and effort. And she’s able to outlast everybody and hold on.”

Lindwurm will now begin training for the next six months to prepare for the summer Olympics.