The window of opportunity for Olympic marathon hopefuls has come to an end, and for some, they can let out a huge sigh of relief, while for others, it marks the end of the chase for Olympic glory.
Sunday, May 5, 2024, was the final day that athletes could run an auto-qualifying time to punch their ticket to Paris. The auto-standard for men was 2:08:10, whereas for women it was 2:26:50.
Although the qualification process for the Olympic marathon was full of nuance, it was even more so for American athletes. So before we break down which American will represent Team USA in the marathon, let’s simplify how they got there.
How Americans Qualify For The Olympics
Firstly, let’s unpack the nuances of the qualification process for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, as well as the complex standards and pathways set by USATF, World Athletics, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
The Paris 2024 qualification process is divided into two pathways: most of the athletes qualify by achieving the entry standard, and the remaining through the World Athletics Ranking.
Running A Qualifying Time
For the 2020 Olympics, World Athletics established entry limits of 80 athletes for both men’s and women’s marathons.
However, an unexpected surge in athletes meeting the entry standards, fueled by the influence of super shoes and an extended qualifying window due to the COVID-19 pandemic, resulted in 106 men and 88 women starting the marathon at the postponed Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
In a bid to prevent a recurrence of this situation, World Athletics made significant reductions to the marathon entry standards. The 2024 standards are now set at 2:08:10 for men, compared to 2:11:30 in 2020, and 2:26:50 for women, compared to 2:29:30 in 2020.
World Athletics Ranking
The remainder of the field for the Olympic marathon will come from the World Athletics rankings.
World Athletics released the “Road to Paris” list, which, on January 30, 2024, will have the remaining top athletes who are considered qualified.
The catch?
The list has a limit of three athletes per country, including athletes who have already run qualifying times. Take Kenya, for example, which has had far more than three athletes run the Olympic standard and will, therefore, not have any athletes qualify via the Road to Paris list.
Quota Reallocation System
Here’s where things get interesting for the American athletes. World Athletics announced a “quota reallocation system” for the Olympic marathon in June.
The system allows any or all of its qualified athletes with a replacement, so long as the replacement has run a 2:11:30 (men) or 2:29:30 (women).
In simple terms, even if “Athlete A” has run the fastest time of any athlete in their country, their quota spot could be given to “Athlete B,” who may be the fifth fastest but has run under the 2:11:30 or 2:29:30 (depending on if they are male or female).
At the US Olympic Marathon Trials, the top-placing performers will fill the quota spots, not necessarily the athletes who earned those quota spots.
At the time of the trials, this was the top three women (three guaranteed spots) and the top two men (two guaranteed spots).
The American men have only had two men run under the Olympic qualifying standard, Conner Mantz (2:07:47) and Clayton Young (2:08:00), at the Chicago Marathon.
World Athletics Ranking Confirms Third Spot For American Men
The final day for athletes to run the Olympic qualifying standard was yesterday, Sunday, May 5, 2024, which is the same day the World Athletics ranking period closes.
A total of 70 men qualified by running Olympic standard (considering the three-per-country rule), with only 10 men qualifying via World Athletics rankings.
Thankfully for Team USA, they’ve clinched their third spot via the ranking. CJ Albertson was the highest-ranked American (outside of the two auto-qualifiers), earning quota spot number 72 of 80.
However, for CJ Albertson, this isn’t a reason for celebration since his spot will be reallocated to Leonard Korir. Although Korir is ranked lower than Albertson, he placed third at the Olympic Trials (whereas Albertson was 5th) and will be the third American on the men’s squad.
