Anne Marie Letko

Who is Anne Marie Letko?

Anne Marie Letko is an American long-distance runner who competed in the Summer Olympics in 1996 and 2000.

Anne Marie Letko is the daughter of Jim and Sandy Letko. She started running at the age of 14 when she accompanied her father on jogs around the block. Letko claims that she became hooked on running after winner her age division in the Hampton Classic 7-miler. Lynne Lauck, her future mother-in-law, was the overall female winner in the same race. In high school, Letko finished 18th at the 1986 Kinney Cross Country Championships. She was two-time New Jersey State Champion in the indoor 3200 meter run and her mark of 10:39.6 was a state record from 1986 to 2001.

In 1991, Letko won the 10,000 metres at the World University Games in Sheffield, England in what was a personal best for her at the time of 32:26.87. Her 31:37.26 at the 1993 World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany was the fourth fastest 10,000 by an American woman. In 1994, Letko won USA 15K Championships at the newly named Gate River Run in Jacksonville, Florida.

Dehydration forced Letko to drop out of her debut marathon - the New York City Marathon - in 1993. She returned the following year, coached by for two-time NYC marathon champion Tom Fleming, to finish third with a time of 2:30:19. Letko qualified for the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia with a third place finish of 2:31:18 at the United States Olympic women's marathon trials the preceding February in Columbia, South Carolina. She was the top American woman in Atlanta finishing in 10th place with a time of 2:31:30.