Alexi Pappas is an Olympic athlete, bestselling author and award-winning filmmaker. She competed in the 2016 Rio Olympics for Team Greece and set a national record in the 10,000m run 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 (at the Winter Olympics in South Korea). Her previous film, TRACKTOWN, about an aspiring Olympic runner, featured a cast including Rachel Dratch (“Saturday Night Live”) and Andy Buckley (“The Office”), 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 + 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 #1 new release in both the sports and film categories. Random House asked Alexi to write a young reader’s version of “Bravey,” released fall 2023, with a foreword by Maya Hawke. Alexi’s writing has been published in the New York Times, Lenny Letter, and many more. Alexi has been profiled 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. In fall 2024, Alexi launched her own podcast on the Rich Roll Network, Mentor Buffet.