Bowerman Award winner Parker Valby announces heartbreaking update ahead of USATF Outdoor Championships

American track athlete Parker Valby recently shared a heartbreaking update about her participation at the USATF Outdoor Track and Field Championships 2025. The event is set to be conducted later this month and is the qualifying event for the 2025 Worlds.

The 2024 Bowerman Award winner has been out of action for the majority of this 2025 season. She has competed in just one event throughout the season at the New Indoor Grand Prix in Boston, where she finished 3rd in 8:34.95s (3000m short track).

Reports suggest that Valby has been suffering from a foot injury and is currently in the recovery process. In her recent updates on Instagram stories, she announced that she isn't completely fit and will be skipping the US Outdoor Nationals. She wrote:

"did everything to get back to race USA's but my foot isn't 100% healed yet. be back soon."

Screenshot of Valby's Instagram story (Image via: @parkervalby)

Further speaking about her rookie year in 2025, Valby stated in her second story:

"good news is I am back in running! this has not been the rookie year I imagined but I know it's all part of the bigger picture, sometimes you have to take a few steps back to go 10 steps forward."

Screenshot of Valby's second Instagram story (Image via: @parkervalby)

Parker Valby came into this season on the back of an impressive 2024, where she clinched numerous NCAA Indoor and Outdoor titles, earning her the Bowerman Award. Additionally, she also qualified for her debut Olympics after finishing second in the 10000m event during the trials.

---

Parker Valby speaks up about her disappointing finish at the 2024 Paris Olympics

Parker Valby (Image via: Getty)

Parker Valby made her feelings known about her disappointing campaign at her debut Olympics in Paris last year. Valby finished 11th in the 10,000m event after clocking a time of 30:59.28s.

Speaking in an interview with Citius Mag a few months ago, Valby revealed that she wasn't much disappointed with the results of the Paris event, even though she knew that she had expected better. Valby added that this setback can motivate her to work harder for the next quadrennial games in Los Angeles. She said (via Citius Mag):

"I wouldn't say I was disappointed in myself. Obviously you don’t want to go to the Olympics and get 11th place. I have higher goals than that. But in hindsight, everything happens for a reason. That was a really good starting point and hopefully it's only up from here. That just fuels the fire for the next three and a half years until the next Olympics. I wasn't disappointed."

During the interview, Parker Valby also shed light on the immense pressure she felt at the Olympic Games, which was much more than her collegiate meets and the NCAA Championships.

Edited by Luke Koshi