Michelle Rolle has competed in three Olympic Games.
A 58-year-old grandmother from Pennsylvania has competed in the Olympic Trials to represent the U.S. Olympic Team in the race walk at the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics.
In previewing the women's 20km race walk heats, USA Track and Field called Michelle Rolle a “physical marvel” and said she is the “third-fastest American woman of all time” in the race walk.
Roll, a member of the Greater Philadelphia Track Club, finished third at the Trials in Springfield, Oregon, on June 29 with a time of 1 hour, 42 minutes, 27 seconds. She holds the Olympic Trials record, having qualified and topped the 20-kilometer race walk in Sacramento, California, in July 2000 with a time of 1 hour, 32 minutes, 39 seconds. Roll also competed at her first Olympic Trials more than 30 years ago, competing in the 10-kilometer race walk in 1992, making her “the longest-serving athlete at the Trials, male or female,” according to USATF.
After the weekend's competition, USATF announced her results, saying Rohr demonstrated that “age is no barrier in this sport.”
Rohrl is a three-time Olympian who came out of retirement to compete again. She previously competed in the 1992, 1996 and 2000 Olympics before retiring to focus on her family and homeschool her five children.
Now 58, Rolle has taken up race walking again, telling The Morning Call that he trains every day and runs about 45 miles each week.
Editor's note: Michelle Rolle competed in the Olympic Trials to represent the U.S. Olympic Team in the race walk at the 2024 Paris Olympics, and won a bronze medal at the Olympic Trials. An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Rolle had been selected to the U.S. Olympic Team.
