Lorena Martin, a track and field athlete at Northern Illinois University from 2014 to 2018, will compete in the 800 meters for Spain at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
Martin achieved the Olympic qualifying time mark in a meet held in Madrid in June, with a personal best of 2:00.33. She raced at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in 2022 and 2024, as well as the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, in 2023, making this her fourth international championship appearance for Spain.
“I’m super excited to have this lifetime opportunity,” Martin stated. “I’ve been running since I was 13 years old, and completing each step to get here has been incredibly fulfilling. I believe I have developed significantly as an athlete and a person from high school through my time at NIU College and into my current professional career. I still maintain that attending NIU for college was the best chance I could have gotten out of running, and it has influenced everything I have done since. For this reason, I will always be grateful to be a Huskie.”
Martin ran the third-fastest time in program history to win the 800 meters at the 2017 Mid-American Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships during her tenure at NIU. Martin was a seven-time Academic All-MAC honoree, a 2017 NCAA West Preliminary 800 qualifier, and a member of the NIU distance medley relay team that set a school record.
Connie Teaberry, Director of Track and Field at NIU, is thrilled to see Martin realize her Olympic dream. Teaberry was an Olympian herself, competing for Team USA in the high jump at the 1996 Atlanta Games.
“Lorena Martin, from day one when she arrived on campus, has been an athlete with goals and ambitions to be great,” Teaberry stated. “She has put in a great deal of effort, endured physical and emotional hardships, and never wavered from her main goals. Her unwavering mindset has now allowed her to qualify for the Olympic Games.
This is a testament to Lorena’s unwavering commitment to her athletic career. It gives me great pride to call Lorena a Huskie, and now she’s officially an Olympian! It sounds good to say “Huskie, MAC Champion and Olympian,” and I’m excited to watch her compete!”
The track and field competition kicks off on Thursday, August 1, while the 2024 Summer Olympics open on Friday, July 26. On Friday, August 2, the women’s 800-meter run will have its preliminary round.
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