Grinnell College Athletics

Christine Thorburn M.D. ’92 qualified for the NCAA Division III National Cross Country Championships in 1989 and claimed the Midwest Conference title that year. The cross country star holds the 15th-best 5-kilometer time in Midwest Conference history. Thorburn also competed for the Grinnell track and field team, winning the individual MWC championship in the 3,000-meter run, 5,000, and 10,000 races. Following her graduation from Grinnell with a degree in chemistry, Thorburn set down the track spikes and picked up a bicycle instead. She experienced tremendous cycling success, competing for the U.S. Olympic Cycling Team in 2004 and 2008. She won the women's individual time trial event at the U.S. Federation National Championships in 2004, placed fourth in the 2004 Athens Olympics Women’s time trial and placed fifth in the 2008 Beijing Olympics Women’s time trial. On the academic side, in 1992 Thorburn won a Fulbright Scholarship to study in Nepal and received her degree in medicine from Stanford University in 1999. Thorburn thrived in a career in rheumatology, serving as a fellow at Stanford University before becoming a physician at Palo Alto Medical Clinic. She lives in Portola Valley, Calif.