What Are Olympic Universality Places, And Who Are the Runners Who Just Got A Spot in the Paris Games Marathons?

Leonard Korir, who secured third place in the US Olympic Marathon Trials, faces the end of his quest for the 2024 Olympics following World Athletics’ recent decision to include 11 universality places in the Olympic marathon field. 

In addition to the men’s field, World Athletics has granted nine universality places in the women’s Olympic marathon category. However, this won’t affect the American women, who are set to send a complete team of three athletes. Fiona O’Keeffe, Emily Sisson, and Dakotah Lindwurm, the top three finishers at the US Olympic Trials, all comfortably surpassed the 2:26:50 auto standard during the qualifying period from November 6, 2022, to May 5, 2024.

Korir’s failure to meet the auto standard, with his best time during the qualifying period being 2:09:31, renders his Olympic quest moot, with the only remaining way to secure a spot is by multiple athletes withdrawing. 

Initially, Korir seemed to have a strong chance. He ranked as the third American on the Road to Paris list, a rather convoluted World Athletics created scoring system meant to simplify the selection process if an athlete didn’t hit the Olympic standard, when it seems to have just caused more confusion and frustration, even for the most committed fan of running. CJ Albertson held the 73rd spot, with the top 80 men on the list securing Olympic berths, meaning that Albertson had effectively secured a final qualification spot for the American squad, which Korir had earned by qualifying third at the U.S. Olympic Trials in early March (Albertson was fifth in that race, but the USATF requires that a qualifying marathon runner must place in the top three to go to the Games).

But with World Athletics suddenly reallocating quotas, Korir’s fortunes dramatically shifted. World Athletics’ decision to award 11 universality places led to Albertson’s downgrade to #84 on the Road to Paris list, meaning that the U.S. lost its third men’s spot for Games participation.

World Athletics’ aim in December 2022 was for 50% of qualifiers in the men’s and women’s marathons to come through the entry standard and 50% through world ranking. However, with the current landscape, neither the men’s nor women’s marathons are expected to see qualifiers via world ranking.

So, who are the athletes that have received these universality places?