Lizzie Bird MA ’19 Is Going to the Olympics

Bird received her MA in global studies (formerly international studies) in 2019 from USF. She has been involved in advocacy and support for the human rights organization Detention Action.

Fresh off her bronze medal performance at the 2024 European Championships held at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome in early June, Bird placed first at the UK Athletics Championships and Olympic Trials last weekend to punch her ticket to Paris. Her mark of 9:29.67 was a championship record and 21 seconds off her personal best in the event set in August of 2022.
 
Bird, making her second consecutive appearance in the Olympics, previously competed in the 2020 Summer Games held in Tokyo in July of 2021. One of two participants representing Great Britain in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the Japan National Stadium, Bird finished in ninth place with a time of 9:19.68.
 
A member of the San Francisco women's cross country and track and field teams from 2017-18, Bird competed in nine total cross country races in two seasons for the Dons. Bird earned three top-15 finishes, highlighted by a ninth-place finish at the 2017 West Coast Conference Championships, setting a personal best of 20:12.8 in the 6,000 meters.
 
Before her time on the Hilltop, Bird competed at Princeton for four seasons, where she was a four-time NCAA Regional Qualifier in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. She also earned three individual Ivy League track and field titles in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (2015 and 2017) and 4x800-meter relay (2017).