2024 US Olympic Marathon Trials: Preview, Schedule, and Athletes to Watch

The US Olympic Marathon Trials are the most important pre-Olympic race for American marathon runners with dreams of competing at Paris 2024. The trials took place in Orlando, Florida, on February 3, 2024, and decided the athletes that would have the chance to represent Team USA in the Paris 2024 marathon.

Preview

For American marathon runners with dreams of competing at Paris 2024, the US trials were the most important pre-Olympic race this season.

Three men and three women could qualify for the USA Team at the trials in Orlando, and the nation’s best all battled for those vital podium places.

Schedule

The US marathon trials started and finished in the same location in downtown Orlando, close to Lake Eola Park.

An approximately five-and-a-half-kilometer (2.2-mile) loop was followed by three 13-kilometer (eight-mile) loops to the finish line.

The course was flat, with long straights - so there was hope that fast times could be on the cards.

The men’s race kicked off the day at 10:10 am EST on Saturday, February 3, 2024.

The women’s race started at 10:20 am EST.

Athletes to Watch

This year’s contenders included a mix of returning Olympians and rising stars with their trials qualification secured by setting a marathon time of 2:18 or half-marathon of 1:03 for men, and 2:37 or 1:12 for women over the same distances. While those stats were impressive, they were also some way off the Paris 2024 athletics entry standards for men of 2:08:10 and 2:26:50 for women, with only two men and three women in the field registering those times in the lead-up to the upcoming trials.

In the men’s race, Conner Mantz set the fastest time to qualify for the trials with 2:07:47 at the 2022 Chicago Marathon.

He was one of only two men in the race to have achieved the Olympic qualifying standard, alongside his friend and former mentor Clayton Young, who ran 2:08:00 in the same race as Mantz in the Windy City.

Both Mantz and Young hail from Utah and have a long history of running and training together.

However, if they were to make the USA team, they would need to be at their very best to see off the challenges of some real veterans of the sport such as Galen Rupp and Scott Fauble.

Rupp (37) was one of the most successful American marathon runners in recent history, with victories in Chicago in 2017 and two second-place finishes in Boston (2017) and Chicago (2021).

In the women’s race, the top three finishers were:

1. Molly Seidel: She won the race with a time of 2:25:11. Seidel is a 28-year-old American long-distance runner who won the bronze medal in the marathon at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

2. Emily Sisson: She finished second with a time of 2:25:23. Sisson is a 30-year-old American long-distance runner who competed in the 10,000 meters at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

3. Jordan Hasay: She finished third with a time of 2:25:29.

Hasay is a 30-year-old American long-distance runner who competed in the marathon at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics.

Conclusion

The US Olympic Marathon Trials were a thrilling event that showcased the best of American marathon running. With the top three finishers in both the men’s and women’s races qualifying for the USA Team at the Paris 2024 Olympics, the stakes were high. The trials were a testament to the hard work and dedication of the athletes who competed, and we wish them all the best of luck in Paris.