Karissa Schweizer (born May 4, 1996) is an American
middle- and
long-distance runner, Olympian and World Record holder in the women's 4x1500 meters relay. She competed in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the 5000 meters and 10,000 meters events finishing 11th and 12th, respectively. In 2020, she set the indoor 3000 meters
American Record with a time of 8:25.70.[1]
Schweizer grew up in
Urbandale, Iowa and attended Dowling Catholic High School. She is the daughter of Mike and Kathy (Petricka) Schweizer, both of whom had successful collegiate track careers at Mankato State, with her father earning All-American honors. Karissa's grandfather, Frank Schweizer, was a NCAA Division II All-American runner at
Mankato State. He coached track at
Dowling Catholic High School for over four decades but retired before Karissa began her high school career. Her family has a rich running heritage at Dowling with her father and uncles, Steve and Doug, running track for the school. Her siblings Kelsey and Ryan also ran for Dowling, with Ryan winning eight state championships including a swimming title. He also ran a 3:49.04 PR in the 1500m to earn him a 3rd at the 2017 USA Track and Field Junior Championships. He is a member of the University of Notre Dame's track team. Karissa's cousins Alexis and Tyler ran cross-country for Dowling and a younger cousin, Lily, competed in 5th-grade track at Saint Francis.[3][4]
Karissa never won an individual state or national cross-country title while at Dowling, never qualified for the
Foot Locker Cross Country Championships, and her only track title was for 3 kilometer the 2011
IAHSAA championships.[5][6]
The following
cross country season, Schweizer was not considered a favorite for the individual NCAA title.[9] Despite this, Schweizer defeated favorites
Erin Finn and
Anna Rohrer to win the 6 kilometer race in 19:41.6, becoming the first female national champion in any sport in
Missouri Tigers history.[9][10]
Schweizer, running the fastest time 5K in the U.S. during the summer season, recorded a personal best 15:01.63 during a win at the Sunset Tour on July 10, 2019, in
Azusa, California.[20]
On July 10, 2020, Schweizer finished second to Shelby Houlihan in a 5000 m race conducted by the Bowerman Track Club with a new personal best of 14:26.34. Houlihan won the race in a new American Record of 14:23.92. Schweizer's time beat Houlihan's former American Record of 14:34.45 and made her the 14th fastest performer of all time.
On July 23, 2020, Schweizer set a new world leading time in addition to a new personal best in the 1500m, at 4:00.02, which made her the 8th fastest American to ever run the event, finishing in front of
Colleen Quigley and
Courtney Frerichs in 4:03.98 and 4:07.39, respectively.
On July 31, 2020, Schweizer, along with
Colleen Quigley,
Elise Cranny and
Shelby Houlihan established a World Record in the women's 4x1500 meters relay with a time of 16:27.02, eclipsing the previous World Record of 16:33.58 set by a quarter of Kenyan runners on May 25, 2014. The record was ratified in December 2020,[22][23]
On June 21, 2021, in 94-degree heat in Eugene, Oregon, Schweitzer finished 0.3 seconds behind Bowerman Track Club teammate Elise Cranny in the 5000m, qualifying for the U.S. Olympic team with a 15:28.11. Cranny had run the last 400 meters in 63.72 seconds.[24] Schweitzer had Achilles surgery that fall.[25]
On May 27, 2022, at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, competing in the 10,000m event, Schweitzer and
Alicia Monson ran together for the last 5,000 meters, which they covered in under 15 minutes. Schweitzer edged Monson by a step crossing the finish line in 30:49.56. It qualified both for the
World Athletics Championships United States team to be held in
Eugene, Oregon.[25]