She began running in a local park in Herzliya as a hobby in 2010. She does not listen to music as she runs, saying "I always like to listen to my heart beating. Even though I'm running 42 kilometers, I run without music." She said: "People tell me, ‘You inspire us, you make us proud,’ so that really motivates me a lot. I want to inspire the younger generation in Israel." Salpeter then competed for
Israel at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the
marathon. She left the race at the 35th kilometer, with sharp pain in her chest. In May 2017 she won the
Berlin BIG 25 km race in Germany, in 1:28:48. In June 2018, she won the Valencia 15 km, in
Valencia, Spain, with a time of 47:38, a personal best and a new Israeli record. In July 2018, Salpeter won the 1500 m at the Israeli National Championships, with a time of 4:11.69, a personal best. As she and the other lead runners crossed the line, with her in close second place, she pulled up one lap early by mistake and veered off course 400 metres early, thinking she had just crossed the finish line. However, as race officials rang the bell indicating the start of the final lap, Salpeter realized her error, and sprinted after the leader. After finishing she collapsed on the grass, crying, and in her post-race interview only managed to say: "What a fool I am." It was the first time that she ran the distance. She broke the prior course record by four minutes, and was six minutes ahead of the second-place finisher
Caroline Chepkwony. She ran a
negative split, running the first half of the race in 1:12:38, and the second half in 1:11:39. She was two seconds off the course record. In April 2019, she came in second in the
Prague Half Marathon in
Prague, the Czech Republic, with a time of 1:06:09, a personal best. She clocked the 24th-best time for a woman in that distance in history, the third-best European time ever, and a new Israeli national record. She moved to third on the European all-time list in the marathon, behind world record-holder
Paula Radcliffe (2:15:25) and
Irina Mikitenko (2:19:19). In July 2019, she won a silver medal in the
2019 European 10,000 m Cup in London, with an Israeli national record of 31:15.78, seven seconds behind
Steph Twell. In August 2019 Salpeter won a gold medal in the
2019 European Athletics Team Championships Second League 5,000 metre race, in
Varaždin, Croatia, in a time of 15:44.38. On 28 September 2019, Salpeter ran in the women's marathon at the
2019 World Athletics Championships in
Doha,
Qatar. She was forced to leave the race after 32 kilometers (20 miles) while she was in fifth place and 11 seconds behind the lead runner, as temperatures rose to 91 °F (32.7 °C), along with humidity of 73% that made it feel like 105 °F (40 °C). In December 2019 she won the Israeli Half Marathon Championships in
Beit She'an, with a time of 1:10:05. She broke away from the women's field at the 30-kilometer mark, and broke the course record by over two minutes. She ran the sixth-fastest women's marathon in the world of all time. In July 2020, she won the 800 metre Israeli Championship in Tel Aviv with a time of 2:06.63, a personal best, and the 1,500 metre Israeli Championship with a time of 4:17.96. She ran negative splits, running 71:31 in the first half, and 71:06 in the second half. On 6 August 2021, after running in the leading pack runners for most of the race, Salpeter came in 66th in the
women's marathon at the
2020 Tokyo Olympic Games with a time of 2:48:31. She was in the front pack of runners with four kilometers (2.5 miles) to go, in a battle for the
bronze medal with
Molly Seidel, when she had to pause due to severe pain from intense
menstrual cramps. She only started running again 20 minutes later, finished 21 minutes behind the winner
Peres Jepchirchir, and said: "I will never give up, so I need to cross the finish line. I tried my best." Shortly after the marathon ended, she said: "I was really proud to represent Israel, I was going today to fight for any medal. I apologize that I didn't win," before breaking into tears and walking away from the interview. When asked about the problem, she looked at the only female reporter in the crowd and said, “You understand.” In April 2022, she won the Israeli 10,000m Championships in Tel Aviv, with a time of 31:49.75. She accepted the medal while wearing the Israeli flag draped across her back, and said: "I'm so proud to represent my country". In November 2022, Salpeter won the silver medal at the
2022 New York City Marathon, with a time of 2:23:30, only seven seconds behind the winner
Sharon Lokedi. On an unseasonably warm and humid day for New York City, she had been in the lead for most of the last few miles, and was only passed by Lokedi in the final mile. In March 2023 she won the silver medal in the
Roma-Ostia Half Marathon, in Rome, Italy, in 1:06:56, 35 seconds behind the gold medal winner. It was the first time she had run the Boston Marathon.
2024; Paris Olympics Salpeter was chosen to be Israel's female flag-bearer at the
Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games on 26 July 2024. Salpeter represented
Israel at the 2024 Paris Olympics in the
Women's marathon. After leading at the halfway mark, she finished 8th with a time of 2:26:08, three minutes and 13 seconds behind gold medal winner
Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands. ==Achievements==