58-Year-Old Grandma Places Third In Race Walking At U.S. Olympic Trials

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A 58-year-old Pennsylvania woman came out of retirement and placed third at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials on Saturday.

Michelle Rohl took the bronze medal in the 20-kilometer race walk in Springfield, Oreg., with a time of 1:42:17. The distance runner turned race walker previously competed for Team USA in the 1992, 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games, but she retired from the sport more than two decades ago to home school her five kids. This accomplishment also comes just three months after the birth of her first grandchild.

"She’s an excited grandma," her husband Michael Rohl told The Philadelphia Inquirer leading up to the race. "We get pictures every day of our little grandson."

58-Year-Old Grandma Places Third In Race Walking At US Olympic Trials

Michelle Rohl placed third at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials after retiring more than two decades ago.

(Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

Rohl clocks a total of 45 miles per week, walking at an 8-minute-per-mile pace — which is faster than many people can run.

And even ongoing knee aches didn't stop Rohl from getting in her daily training. She also battled through a concussion last year, and she busted her chin a few weeks before the trials.

"I just said, ‘I have to stay on my feet and keep going forward,’" Rohl said.

Michelle Rohl competes at the U.S. Track and Field Trials in 1992.

(Tim de Frisco / Allsport via USA TODAY Sports)

At Saturday's trials, Rohl finished behind Robyn Stevens, 41, and Miranda Melville, 35, according to the Register-Guard in Oregon. Unfortunately, though, none of the top-three finishers hit the Olympic standard time of 1:29:20.

VIDEO: Spanish Race Walker Celebrates Too Early, Misses Out On Bronze Medal

But even though she isn't likely headed to the Paris Olympics, Rohl is proud of herself for getting back out there.

"My middle daughter was like, ‘Mom, you were a really good athlete. Then you had kids,’" Rohl said. "‘And then we all grew up, and you’re a great athlete again. I think we were the reason.’ Well, I wanted to. I was ready for a break, and I wanted that part of my life."