Blake Russell, the only American woman to finish last August's Olympic Marathon in Beijing, became a mother on Tuesday, April 27, giving birth to her first child, Quin Robert Russell. Quin's birth came early for Russell and husband Jonathan, and he weighed 6 lbs, 4 oz (2.8 kg) and was 20 inches (51 cm) long.
"Quin Robert Russell decided he was ready 3.5 weeks early and surprised us at 1:30 a.m. Monday with a quick water break," Russell said in an e-mail message to friends. "We are all both doing great and looking forward to going home Wednesday."
Russell, 33, made her first Olympic team when she finished third at the USA Olympic Marathon Trials in Boston in 2008. In Beijing she finished 27th in 2:33:13; her teammates Deena Kastor and Magdalena Lewy Boulet both had to drop out with injuries.
A versatile distance runner, Russell was the USA 15-K champion in 2006, competed in the 10,000m at the IAAF World Championships in Helsinki in 2005, and doubled in the 4-K and the 8-K at the 2006 IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Fukuoka, finishing 18th in the shorter event and 11th in the longer.
Coached by Bob Sevene, Russell lives in Marina, Calif.
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