Molly Ludlow

Molly Beckwith-Ludlow (born Molly Elizabeth Beckwith on August 4, 1987) is a retired American middle-distance runner. She finished third at the 2014 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships and is a two-time Olympic alternate in the 800 m. She also holds the American record in the 4 × 800 metres relay.

Biography Molly Beckwith was born on August 4, 1987, in Worthington, Ohio. She returned to the track in her senior year, but soccer remained her main sport, and after graduating from high school she went to Indiana University on a soccer scholarship.

Later that summer, she broke two minutes for the first time, running 1:59.83 in Lignano; sponsored by the shoe company Saucony, she turned professional. She continued to train under her coach at Indiana, Ron Helmer.

In 2011, her first full year as a professional, she improved her personal best to 1:59.12 (again in Lignano) and placed seventh at the United States championships. She narrowly missed qualifying for the 2012 Summer Olympics; at the Olympic Trials she was in the top three until the end, but tied up and fell to fourth place with meters to go.

In 2015 Ludlow won gold with the American team in the 4 × 800 m relay at the World Relays; the team's winning time, 8:00.62, was a new American record. The following week she improved her personal best to 1:58.68 at the Paris Diamond League meeting, where she also placed fourth. She finished in the semifinals of the 800 m at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics.

In April 2017, Ludlow retired due to pregnancy. In May, she accepted a warning from USADA for a December 2016 positive test for her prescribed hydroxyclomiphene, a fertility treatment and banned performance enhancing drug.