Katie Hoff has been named an ambassador for National Blood Clot Alliance

Former 2x Olympian, 3x Olympic medalist, and 2x World Record holder Katie Hoff has been named an ambassador for National Blood Clot Alliance. 

After winning a silver and bronze medal at the 2008 Olympic Games, when she was only 19, Hoff didn’t qualify for the 2012 edition. She took some time off swimming in 2013 but started training again and was on track for a comeback in 2014. At this same time in 2014, she found out that she had life-threatening blood clots in her lungs, preventing her from being able to complete this comeback. These clots eventually caused her to announce her retirement from swimming in 2015.  

According to their website, the National Blood Clot Alliance, known as NBCA, is “focused singularly on building awareness and building community among people who are affected by blood clots or at increased risk for blood clots.” Pro football hall of famer, Harry Carson, is another featured athlete to have shared their story for NBCA. Hoff has shared through Instagram that she is “committed to helping raise awareness for blood clot risks in addition to offering support for the mental health side of things during/post recovery as I know first hand how difficult and scary that process can be.” 

As an athlete, Hoff competed at both the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games. Although she didn’t win a medal at the 2004 Games, she was only 15 years old at the time. At the 2008 US Olympic Trials, she set a World Record in the 400 IM with a time of 4:31.12, although that record has now been surpassed. 

Hoff is most notably known for a rigorous event schedule as she would compete individually in distance freestyle (200 and above) and both IM events, as well as swim on the US 4×200 freestyle relay team. She has been compared to Michael Phelps and was labeled as the “female Michael Phelps” due to this rigorous event schedule. At the 2008 Olympic Games, she won 3 medals, silver in the 400 freestyle and bronze in both the 400 IM and 4×200 freestyle relay.

Since her retirement from swimming, Hoff has been able to dedicate time to share her experiences through her book ‘Blueprint’, which she released in November 2020. She also has been able to become a motivational speaker and will now join the NBCA team as an ambassador.