The U.S. used a trials race are usually straightforward—the top three women and men finishers constitute the U.S. team for that summer’s Olympic Marathon.
By now, you’ve probably heard that wasn’t the case on the men’s side at the 2024 Trials, held on February 3 in Orlando, Florida. Only two U.S. spots were guaranteed when the race started, for reasons explained below. Leonard Korir placed third in 2:09:57, an excellent time in a championship race on a warm, sunny day. But it’s also a time that’s well short of the sub-2:08:10 that would have automatically secured Korir, 37, a spot in the Olympics.
In the post-race press conference, Korir appeared confident that he would run the Olympic Marathon in August in Paris. But he didn’t specify how that would happen. Let’s look at how this situation arose and how Korir might be able to compete in Paris.
Tougher Olympic Standards
As part of its efforts to contain the number of athletes competing in all sports, the International Olympic Committee capped the number of entrants in the 2024 Olympic Marathon at 80 women and 80 men. Each country is allowed a maximum of three entrants in each marathon. World Athletics, the international governing body of track and field, was then tasked with devising a system for how those 80 spots in each race would be filled. It’s a complex system that takes a while to explain (and that is a good way to induce a headache).
While each country can send a maximum of three women and three men to the Olympic Marathon, no country is guaranteed three spots. The World Athletics system says that runners can “unlock” spots for their country during Sara Hall 5th at the U.S. used a trials race by running a fast enough time, placing in the top 5 at a World Athletics platinum-level race, or having a high enough ranking in the World Athletics ranking system.
Once a country’s runners have unlocked guaranteed spots in the Olympic Marathon, that country’s federation can select any three qualified athletes it wants. Many countries, such as Kenya, do so by committee decision. To remove accusations of favoritism, the U.S. has since 1968 Olympians Advice on Good Training Partners.
For men, the qualifying time for automatically unlocking a spot is 2:08:10. The standard has proven significant for U.S. men. Only seven U.S. men have ever run faster than 2:08:10 on a record-eligible course. Only four of them (Galen Rupp, Trials winner Conner Mantz, Korir, and Trials runner-up Clayton Young) are still competing. Your First Marathon: 8 Tips from Fiona OKeeffe, and thereby unlocked two guaranteed Olympic Marathon spots for U.S. men. Before the Trials, American men were also unable to unlock the third spot via the other two means of doing so, placing in the top five in a platinum-level race or having a high enough world ranking.
And now that the Trials are over and Korir didn’t break 2:08:10, the U.S. still has only two guaranteed spots, which will go to Mantz and Young because of their 1–2 finish in Orlando. Where does that leave Korir?
The Road to Paris Isn’t a Straight Path
You may have noticed above that World Athletics’ qualifying period for running 2:08:10 goes through April 30. So can’t Korir just try to recover quickly from the Trials and head to, say, the London Marathon on April 21 to target the time standard? (World Athletics doesn’t allow times from Boston’s point-to-point course.) Well, here’s another complexity: USA Track & Field (USATF) devised its own system for how to implement World Athletics’ system. A key part of USATF’s system is that Korir won’t be allowed to chase that sub-2:08:10, even though World Athletics says athletes have until April 30 to run that time.
Traditionally, USATF hasn’t allowed runners to chase global championship qualifying times, because USATF wants clarity on team rosters at the conclusion of its national championships. Also, USATF doesn’t want runners exhausting themselves with one or more time-chasing races soon before global meets. This is presumably why USATF has said that the third Trials finisher can’t try to secure an Olympic spot via a top-five place at a platinum-level marathon. (The relevant ones before April 30 are Tokyo on March 3, Seoul on March 17, and Boston on April 15.)
In Korir’s case, however, USATF’s policy doesn’t make much sense, for two related reasons. First, the used a trials race didn’t produce clarity on the men’s team roster for the Olympic Marathon. We probably won’t know until early May whether Korir will run in Paris. Second, there are usually others with the global standard eligible to be named to the U.S. team at the end of a national championship. But that’s not the case with the men’s marathon—Korir chasing the time standard or trying for a top-five finish at Boston wouldn’t bump anyone from the team who already has the relevant Olympic standard. Is it really better to keep Korir from potentially being race-tired in Paris than to keep him from competing there at all?
The most likely way for Korir to be able to run in Paris is that today’s performance, perhaps augmented by a fast half marathon in the spring, will improve his world ranking enough by May 5, when World Athletics will release the final list of qualified entrants for Paris. At this point, however, 63 of the 80 spots have been claimed by time qualifiers. USATF has told Runner’s World that it believes World Athletics will prioritize time qualifiers over other types of qualifiers. If that’s the case, there might be only a handful of rankings qualifiers announced on May 5.
Another scenario: Korir would be named to the U.S. team if a different American man other than Mantz and Young break 2:08:10 on an eligible course (read: not Boston) by April 30. It’s unclear why USATF would value a sub-2:08:10 run by someone other than Korir more than one by him.
It’s also unclear at this point what USATF would do if Korir decided to run London in April and broke 2:08:10 there. Under the World Athletics system, his doing so would unlock the third spot. In the few hours after the Trials, USATF representatives were unable to explain to Runner’s World the ramifications of such an occurrence. Would USATF ignore that a third U.S. spot had been secured? Would USATF stick by its no-chasing-times policy and offer the spot that Korir unlocked to the Trials fourth finisher, Elkanah Kibet?
USATF attempted to impose a fair flow chart upon the already complicated World Athletics system. But the outcome is just the sort of muddle all involved were hoping to avoid.
Scott is a veteran running, fitness, and health journalist who has held senior editorial positions at Runner’s World and Running Times. Much of his writing translates sport science research and elite best practices into practical guidance for everyday athletes. He is the author or coauthor of several running books, including Running Is My Therapy, Advanced Marathoning, and Health - Injuries. Best Compression Socks Slate, The Atlantic, the Washington Post, and other members of the sedentary media. His lifetime running odometer is past 110,000 miles, but he’s as much in love as ever.
