Most countries around the world use a selection committee to choose their Olympic Team Members, but not the USA. Prior to 1968, a series of races were used to select the USA Olympic Marathon team, but beginning in 1968 the format was changed to a single race on a single day with the top three finishers selected to be part of the Olympic Team and the fourth and fifth finishers designated as alternates.

As a once-every-four-years opportunity to be selected to the Olympic Marathon team, the USA Olympic Team Trials is arguably the most important marathon that many will run. For some, just getting to the Trials is a goal in itself and marks them as among the best in the USA.

For others, the Trials is the first step in making the Olympic Team. Whatever the motivation for running the Trials, one thing is for sure: the men and women who will represent the USA at the 2020 Olympic Marathon in Tokyo will come from the lists on these pages.

Discover how the Los Angeles Candidature Committee describes their vision for the Games and the legacy they plan to leave behind:

For centuries, people have been following the sun to California – to a coastal paradise of beautiful weather, inspiring landscapes and an ocean of possibilities. Since it was first settled, LA – the City of Angels – has built a culture of progress by harnessing creativity and imagination for reinvention. Today, LA28 is inviting the world to follow the sun on a journey of sport and innovation destined to help transform the Games to:

Deliver the ultimate personalised experience for the Athletes

Maximise our existing sports infrastructure to ensure a sustainable long-term legacy

Produce a fresh blend of sport and entertainment to help refresh the Olympic brand worldwide and capture the imagination of youth

Reignite America’s passion for the Olympic Movement for generations to come

Embrace the principles of Olympic Agenda 2020 through fiscally prudent Games that deliver enduring benefits to the host city and the Olympic Movement.

As a symbol of our vision, we will utilise LA’s brightest star, the sun. The sun not only shines on the thousands of athletes who live and train in Los Angeles, it serves as a powerful ally in the search for a more sustainable Games.

Today, the sun lights the Olympic flame. Tomorrow, it will ignite an energy revolution. By following the sun, LA 2028 will help reimagine a New Games for a New Era.

Sustainability and legacy

Situated on a wide hilly coastal plain, Los Angeles is one of the most geographically diverse cities in the world with picturesque mountains, vibrant canyons, verdant valleys and world-renowned beaches. Bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the south and west, LA stretches from the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains to the north down to the San Gabriel Mountains to the east, with canyons and valleys that are home to a vast array of wildlife and natural wonders. LA is characterised by its consistent climate and cheerful sunshine that draw millions of people from around the world to pursue their dreams.

The opportunity to host the 2028 Olympic Games has already catalysed LA’s community. Hundreds of partners are excited to promote the extraordinary values the Olympic Games stand for, and the values LA holds dear, including sustainability in all of its forms – social inclusion, economic benefit and environmental stewardship.

LA 2028’s vision for the Games is to create a grand partnership among the city’s stakeholders that sets the standard for sustainable mega-events everywhere, and makes that knowledge universally accessible and applicable. The guiding principle behind this vision is to “work with what exists”. LA 2028’s Games concept uses 100 percent existing and temporary venues with plans to reuse or return all temporary and overlay materials to their natural state — a revolutionary concept that will extend beyond the Games.

LA 2028 will work towards hosting the first “Energy Positive Games” by generating more energy through renewable sources and energy efficiency efforts than the energy needed to power the Games. The candidature has already commenced discussions with LA’s venue operators, regional utility partners, tech innovators and the region’s 18 million residents to meet this goal.

Finally, LA 2028 will accelerate the city’s ambitious goal of achieving zero waste through its venue operations and overlay reuse strategy. This will be accomplished by partnering with venues to develop robust recycling programmes that apply best practices from LA’s existing stadiums, including the LA Memorial Coliseum – the largest National Football League stadium to achieve zero waste.

Athlete's View

Q&A with Allyson Felix, athletics

A native Angeleno, Allyson Felix is the most decorated female Olympian in track and field history, with a total of nine Olympic medals.

How would the sustainable Games plan benefit the athletes of your community?

“LA 2028’s Games plan was built with sustainability as a core pillar and this will translate to significant benefits for the thousands of Olympians and community sport organisations in Southern California. LA 2028’s guiding principle is responsibility: that means to work with what already exists, and this means everything from world-class venues to LA’s robust network of over 2,000 youth sports organisations, including the LA84 Foundation. Leading up to the Games, LA 2028 will form a Youth Sports Committee to work with these existing organisations, in a joint endeavour to bolster their own programming and curricula around sport and healthy living, with unique content provided by the organising committee in collaboration with the Olympic Education Commission. After the Games, a 2028 Legacy Foundation will continue this work by distributing sports assets including swimming pools, equipment and funding.”