Alexi Pappas

Alexi Pappas is an Olympic athlete and award-winning filmmaker. She competed in the 2016 Rio Olympics for Team Greece and set a national record in the 10k with a time of 31:36.

Alexi’s work includes the feature film Olympic Dreams, which premiered to critical acclaim at SXSW and was distributed by IFC Films. The film stars Nick Kroll and Alexi and is the first ever narrative film shot in a real-life Olympic Village. Her previous film, Tracktown, about an aspiring Olympic runner, featured a cast including Rachel Dratch of Saturday Night Live and Andy Buckley of The Office, and premiered at the 2016 Los Angeles Film Festival, and was distributed by Samuel Goldwyn Films, Orion Pictures, and Sony International. Alexi most recently directed, co-wrote, and starred in the feature film Not An Artist alongside RZA, Ciara Bravo, Paul Lieberstein, Matt Walsh, and Haley Joel Osment (out in theaters and available for streaming with Utopia Entertainment in 2024).

Alexi’s memoir-in-essays, Bravey, with a foreword by Maya Rudolph, was published in January 2021 and was the number one new release in both the sports and film categories. Random House asked Alexi to write a young reader’s version of Bravey, released in 2023, with a foreword by Maya Hawke. Alexi’s writing has been published in the New York Times, Lenny Letter, and beyond. Alexi has appeared on the cover of the New York Times sports page, in Rolling Stone, on NPR’s All Things Considered, and was also featured on the cover of Runner’s World magazine’s 50th anniversary issue alongside Kevin Hart, named as one of the two faces of the “new boom” in running. Alexi has a new podcast with Rich Roll’s new network, called Mentor Buffet. She loves running, and now finds joy in running marathons with famous DJs and guiding for blind athletes. She also ran 100 miles at Leadville last year. Alexi Pappas is a Bravey.