Orlando will host US Olympic Marathon Trials for Paris 2024
Orlando will host the United States Olympic Marathon Trials for Paris 2024, USA Track & Field (USATF) and the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) have announced.
The top three men and women at the event, due to be held on February 3 in 2024, will be chosen to represent the US in the French capital, providing they have achieved the necessary qualifying criteria.
Chattanooga in Tennessee was the only other city known to be interested in bidding for the event.
"We look forward to a fantastic marathon on the streets of Orlando in selecting USATF’s first six 2024 Olympians," said USATF chief executive Max Siegel.
"The competition is the culmination of months of preparation on their journeys to gold and we’re excited to see great competition and fast times."
Orlando, home to more than a dozen theme parks, including Walt Disney World, is the first Florida city to be awarded the event.
This will mark the 15th time the men's marathon trials have been held, with the first at Alamosa in Colorado for Mexico 1968.
It will be the 11th time the women's marathon team has been selected in a Trials event.
The inaugural women's marathon trials were held at Olympia in Washington to select the team for Los Angeles 1984.
The winner of those trials, Joan Benoit, went on to be crowned the first women's Olympic marathon champion.
The trials for the last Olympics in Tokyo were held in February 2020, less than a month before the Games were postponed by a year because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The men’s race was won by Galen Rapp of the US and the women’s by compatriot Aliphine Tuliamuk.
The race is set to be organised by Track Shack, a race management company led by Jon and Betsy Hughes that stages a number of events in the Orlando area.
The Olympic marathons at Paris 2024 are scheduled to be held on August 10 and 11.
"On behalf of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee, I offer congratulations to the city of Orlando for being selected to host the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials - Marathon and look forward to celebrating this great event on the road to Paris 2024 with the athletes, fans, and our partners at USATF," said USOPC chief executive Sarah Hirshland.
"As the pathway for making Team USA, the US Olympic Team Trials stand out as remarkable sporting events, and we have no doubt Orlando will welcome our elite runners and put on a world-class event."
posted Wednesday November 9th
by Duncan Mackay