{{short description|American middle-distance runner (born 1987)}} {{Infobox sportsperson | image = Molly Ludlow 2015.jpg | image_size = 140px | caption = Molly Ludlow in 2015 | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1987|08|04}} | birth_place = Worthington, Ohio<ref name="doylebio">{{cite web |url=http://doylemanagement.com/athletes/molly-beckwith/ |title=Molly Beckwith |publisher=Doyle Management |accessdate=August 14, 2015}}</ref> | height = | weight = | country = {{USA}} | sport = | event =800 meters | club = | collegeteam = Indiana Hoosiers | coach = Ron Helmer | highestranking = | pb = '''800 m''': 1:57.68 (2016) | medaltemplates = {{Medal|Competition|IAAF World Relays}} {{Medal|Gold|2015 Nassau|4 × 800 m relay}} | updated = August 14, 2015 }}
'''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.<ref name="doylebio"/> She attended Thomas Worthington High School, setting school records in the 200 meters and 400 meters as a freshman; in her sophomore and junior years she concentrated on soccer, dropping track and field.<ref name="dolan">{{cite web |url=http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/worthington/news/2009/08/12/0813wotrack_sp.html |title=Track now focus for Beckwith |publisher=Worthington News/ThisWeek |date=August 14, 2009 |author=Dolan, Patrick |accessdate=August 14, 2015}}</ref> 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.<ref name="dolan"/>
She played soccer through her freshman year at Indiana, but knee problems, which she had already suffered from in high school, forced her to drop soccer and give up her scholarship; track was not a problem for her knees, so she joined the Indiana Hoosiers' track and field team in her sophomore year, now running the 400 meters and 800 meters, and earned a new scholarship through that sport. The 800 meters soon became her main event, and she developed steadily.<ref name="dolan"/><ref name="indy"/> At the 2010 NCAA championships she placed second to Phoebe Wright in a personal best 2:02.14.<ref name="tp">{{tilastopaja|id=48496|sex=w}}</ref>
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.<ref name="indy">{{cite news |url=http://www.indystar.com/story/sports/2015/06/03/monumental-mile-olympic-trials-prep-molly-ludlow/28424761/ |newspaper=The Indianapolis Star |date=June 3, 2015 |accessdate=August 14, 2015 |title=Monumental Mile is Olympic trials prep for Molly Ludlow |author=Woods, David}}</ref> She continued to train under her coach at Indiana, Ron Helmer.<ref name="fox">{{cite web |url=http://fox59.com/2015/06/03/former-iu-track-star-olympic-hopeful-ludlow-captures-american-record/ |title=Former IU track star, Olympic hopeful Ludlow captures American Record |publisher=FOX59 |date=June 3, 2015 |accessdate=August 14, 2015 |author=Overton, Larra}}</ref>
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.<ref name="tp"/> In 2012, she placed second behind Fantu Magiso at the Adidas Grand Prix, running 1:59.18.<ref name="tp"/> The same year, she won the Diamond League London Grand Prix.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Molly LUDLOW {{!}} Profile {{!}} World Athletics |url=https://worldathletics.org/athletes/united-states/molly-beckwith-ludlow-14305568 |access-date=2026-03-18 |website=worldathletics.org}}</ref> 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.<ref name="indy"/><ref name="fox"/> She skipped the 2013 season to recover from her knee problems; she married Reed Ludlow, a former Division II collegiate basketball player, that fall.<ref name="fox"/> She returned to the track in 2014, placing third at the 2014 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. She finished in the top six in four Diamond League meetings, breaking two minutes in both Lausanne and Monaco.<ref name="tp"/> ''Track & Field News'' ranked her #10 in the world that year, her first top 10 world ranking.<ref name="indy"/><ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://trackandfieldnews.com/images/stories/Rankings/04-w800rank.pdf |title=World Rankings — Women's 800 |magazine=Track & Field News |accessdate=August 14, 2015}}</ref>
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.<ref name="fox"/> She placed fourth at the United States championships in 2:00.09, missing qualifying for the World Championships in Beijing by 0.04 seconds.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.dispatch.com/content/blogs/high-school-sports/2015/06/four-area-track-athletes-to-wear-red-white-and-blue.html |title=Four area track athletes to wear Red, White and Blue |author=Blackledge, Steve |newspaper=The Columbus Dispatch |date=June 29, 2015 |accessdate=August 14, 2015}}</ref> The following week she improved her personal best to 1:58.68 at the Paris Diamond League meeting, where she also placed fourth.<ref name="tp"/> After Ajee' Wilson withdrew from the World Championships due to an injury, Ludlow was named as her replacement.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.runnersworld.com/briefs/ajee-wilson-is-injured-will-miss-world-championships |title=Ajee' Wilson Is Injured, Will Miss World Championships |author=Gambaccini, Peter |date=August 10, 2015 |accessdate=August 14, 2015 |magazine=Runner's World}}</ref> She finished in the semifinals of the 800 m at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics.<ref name=":0" />
In July 2016, Ludlow competed in the Olympic trials, running 1:59.59 and again placing 4th by 0.04 seconds. One week later, she set a personal best of 1:57.68 in Monaco, becoming the seventh fastest US woman at that distance.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.flotrack.org/article/43763-molly-ludlow-has-been-4th-in-the-country-3-times-and-it-s-more-than-fine|title = Molly Ludlow Has Been 4th in the Country 3 Times, and It's More Than Fine - FloTrack}}</ref>
In April 2017, Ludlow retired due to pregnancy.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Woods |first=David |title=Indy's Molly Ludlow decides to end track career and begin motherhood |url=https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/college/indiana/2017/04/11/indys-molly-ludlow-decides-end-track-career-and-begin-motherhood/100318790/ |access-date=2026-03-18 |website=The Indianapolis Star |language=en-US}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-05-01 |title=U.S. Track & Field Athlete, Molly Beckwith-Ludlow, Accepts Public Warning for ADRV |url=https://www.sportsintegrityinitiative.com/u-s-track-field-athlete-molly-beckwith-ludlow-accepts-public-warning-adrv/ |access-date=2026-03-18 |website=Sports Integrity Initiative |language=en-GB}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{World Athletics||name=Molly Beckwith-Ludlow}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ludlow, Molly}} Category:1987 births Category:Living people Category:American women middle-distance runners Category:Indiana Hoosiers women's track and field athletes Category:World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States Category:Sportspeople from Worthington, Ohio Category:Track and field athletes from Ohio Category:21st-century American women