World Athletics recently updated the Road to Paris list, revealing that the United States, along with three other countries, received additional spots in the 2024 Olympic marathon.
Initially, it was unclear why these spots were granted as they pushed the field size beyond the 80-athlete limit set by World Athletics’s Olympic qualification criteria. However, World Athletics explained that the expansion was due to some athletes planning to compete in multiple events in Paris.
Explanation from World Athletics
A World Athletics spokesperson clarified that the top 80 marathon runners from around the world were always intended to compete at the Olympics. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) added universality places at the end of the qualification period, initially replacing some athletes who were hoping to qualify via World Rankings.
After analyzing the athletes’ intentions to participate in more than one event, World Athletics decided to allow additional athletes to join the marathon.
Ultimately, five athletes were offered places, though one declined, resulting in four athletes, including Leonard Korir, being added to the Road to Paris list.
The expansion of the marathon field followed tireless efforts from several federations, notably USATF. When World Athletics added 11 universality spots (later reduced to 10), federations like USATF and Athletics Australia reached out to World Athletics to advocate for their athletes.
USATF made significant efforts, with contributions from its High Performance and International Teams divisions, CEO Max Siegel, COO Renee Washington, and board members at World Athletics.
Korir’s coach, Scott Simmons, also fought for Korir through the USOPC, and Korir even considered involving a US Army lawyer in the case.
Besides Leonard Korir, the additional athletes included Chile’s Hugo Catrileo, South Africa’s Elroy Gelant, and Australia’s Liam Adams.
Why Only Five Athletes Were Added
World Athletics couldn’t expand the Olympic marathon field limitlessly due to the IOC’s cap on the total number of athletes per sport.
For track and field, this number is 1,810 athletes for Paris, down from 1,900 at Tokyo 2020. As a result, World Athletics had to find ways to include additional marathon runners without exceeding this cap, leading to the addition of only five extra athletes by world ranking.
Although CJ Albertson is ranked higher and technically earned the spot for the USA, USATF qualification rules stipulate that they will send the top three finishers from the Olympic Trials to Paris.
Since Korir finished third and Albertson fifth, Korir was chosen.
