The 2024 US Olympic Marathon Trials will probably be held 11 days from now in Orlando. As of now, no prize cash construction has been introduced for the February 3 race. The native organizing committee, the Larger Orlando Sports activities Commisssion (GO Sports activities), is predicted to share the prize cash construction later this week, in line with Jay Holder, media director for the native organizing committee on the Olympic Trials.
“There’s a prize cash construction that has been proposed by the LOC,” Holder informed LetsRun.com on Monday. “There’s a dialog persevering with between the LOC and USA Monitor & Subject…Relaxation assured, [the prize money] is in place. There are just a few tiny particulars being labored out. The way it’s distributed, basically.”
Not too long ago, the prize purse has been one of many very first thing introduced after an Olympic Trials website has been chosen — the prize cash for the 2020 Trials in Atlanta was introduced in April 2018, 22 months earlier than the race was held. USATF solely introduced Orlando because the host in November 2022 — 15 months earlier than the Trials have been to be held — and didn’t publicly announce specifics of the prize cash at the moment.
The LOC is chargeable for overlaying prize cash, and when Orlando was awarded the Trials within the fall of 2022, Runner’s World reported Orlando had agreed to supply $600,000 in prize cash. However RW subsequently reported that, as of November 2023, there was no signed contract between USATF and GO Sports activities for the Trials. It stays unclear if or when a contract was signed; Holder mentioned he didn’t know.
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Holder confirmed the 2024 prize purse will probably be bigger than the $480,000 prize purse the Atlanta Monitor Membership supplied for the 2020 Trials, however mentioned he couldn’t share particular numbers right now.
“I might say return to what’s been mentioned earlier on on this course of,” Holder mentioned. “Anticipate fairly true to that.”
As for the rationale for the delay, Holder mentioned it was “just some remaining negotiations between the LOC and USATF.”
There was some friction between USATF and the LOC throughout preparations for the Trials, notably surrounding the beginning time of the race. USATF initially requested a begin time of 12 p.m. ET, largely in order that the races could possibly be broadcast reside nationally on NBC. When athletes requested for an earlier begin time as a consequence of considerations about potential noon warmth, the LOC resisted, claiming it had constructed sponsor and income alternatives primarily based off the 12 p.m. begin — and that USATF had initially informed them the 12 p.m. begin time was non-negotiable. The LOC — which incorporates GO Sports activities and Monitor Shack, the operating occasions firm enlisted to stage the Trials — informed USATF the monetary damages from transferring the beginning time would quantity to $700,000 and requested USATF assist offset a few of these prices.
Finally, the LOC and USATF agreed in November to maneuver the beginning time to 10 a.m. ET (the races will now air reside on the streaming platform Peacock with tape-delayed protection on NBC starting at 12 p.m.). It stays unclear whether or not USATF will reimburse GO Sports activities for any of the misplaced income however Holder mentioned the delay in saying prize cash was unrelated to the beginning time adjustments.
“The prize cash was not caught up in that dialog in any respect,” Holder mentioned.
If $600,000 is certainly the ultimate quantity, will probably be a 25% bump from the 2020 Trials in Atlanta, however prize cash was decrease in 2020 partially as a result of the LOC for these Trials, the Atlanta Monitor Membership, supplied to cowl journey and lodging for all qualifiers — a sizeable value contemplating 565 athletes wound up ending the races. $600,000 could be equal to the quantity of prize cash awarded on the 2016 Trials in Los Angeles. Nonetheless, there was 29% inflation in the course of the ensuing eight years; in line with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, $600,000 in February 2016 could be value $776,208 in December 2023. Factoring in for inflation, prize cash now’s approach lower than it was in 1996 when $500,000 was supplied as $500,000 in 1996 is equal to almost $1 million as we speak ($977,520.71).
(Traditionally, USATF has additionally paid a bonus to any athlete who makes the Olympic group; that quantity was not included within the above calculations. For extra on the historical past of prize cash on the Olympic Trials, try this text from April 2018: LRC Historical past of Prize Cash on the Olympic Marathon Trials).
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An Replace on the Highway to Paris and the Third US Males’s Olympic Spot
As you might be little doubt conscious, the US has unlocked three ladies’s and two males’s spots within the 2024 Olympic marathon fields. At this level, there’s just one approach the US can unlock the third and remaining males’s spot by the conclusion of the Trials, and that’s for somebody apart from Conner Mantz and Clayton Younger to run the Olympic commonplace of two:08:10 on the Trials. The Trials file is 2:09:02 by Ryan Corridor from the 2008 Trials, however there’s an out of doors likelihood somebody might run sub-2:08:10 in Orlando if the climate is nice since it’s a pretty flat course.
Because it stands, the highest two finishers on the Trials who’ve run sub-2:11:30 throughout the qualifying window will probably be on the group. The third placer is prone to qualify as effectively, but when nobody else runs 2:08:10 or quicker on February 3, the US should wait till Could 8 for that spot to be confirmed. The third spot will probably be awarded primarily based on the Highway to Paris listing on Could 8 (which is in turned primarily based on performances by April 30), however there are a couple of complicating elements earlier than we get there. A few of these have been resolved and a few haven’t. Let’s run by them rapidly.
What concerning the Rwandan doper?
For some time, Rwanda’s John Hakizimana was one of many athletes occupying a spot forward of Scott Fauble, who’s at present the third-highest ranked American on the Highway to Paris listing. The difficulty: Hakizimana is at present serving a doping suspension that expires in October 2025. This case has been resolved as Hakizimana is ineligible to compete on the Olympics and has been faraway from the Highway to Paris listing.
What concerning the Guatemalan?
One other of the athletes ranked forward of Fauble is Alberto Gonzalez Mindez of Guatemala, who hit the Olympic commonplace by operating 2:07:40 in Valencia in December. The difficulty right here is that Guatemala’s Olympic committee is at present suspended by the IOC. However World Athletics confirmed to LetsRun that whereas Guatemala’s Olympic committee is at present suspended, its athletes are usually not. World Athletics informed LetsRun that Mindez would be capable of compete as an Unbiased Olympic Athlete so there isn’t a must take away him from the Highway to Paris listing.
What about universality locations?
Fauble will probably be one of many athletes intently watching the Highway to Paris listing if he finishes within the high 3 in Orlando (Kevin Morris picture)
The Olympic area is capped at 80 athletes per intercourse. The primary 64 athletes (or extra precisely, their federations, who can reallocate these spots as vital) within the Highway to Paris listing as of January 30 will probably be supplied spots on the Olympics. The remaining 16 athletes will probably be chosen primarily based on the Highway to Paris listing as of Could 8. So which means when you’re within the high 80 proper now, you’re in a great place — and Fauble is ranked 69th. There are nonetheless a couple of massive marathons remaining between now and Could 8 — notably, Seville (February 18), Tokyo (March 3), and London (April 21) — however for Fauble to fall out of the highest 80, he’d must be handed by 12 athletes from nations who don’t have already got three qualifiers.
However there’s one other set of athletes who might go Fauble (or whoever the third American is at that time). Working statistician Carole Fuchs reached out to LetsRun to remind us that World Athletics awards universality locations within the Olympics: any federation that doesn’t have a single certified male athlete in any Olympic observe & area occasion is ready to enter their best-ranked athlete in both the 100, 800, or marathon. These are referred to as universality locations.
Previously, universality locations could possibly be awarded in any occasion besides the ten,000, steeple, or multis. However for 2024, universality locations can solely be used within the 100, 800, or marathon. And universality locations are capped at three per intercourse within the 800, that means most of those locations will probably be used within the 100 or marathon.
The best way World Athletics’ qualifying doc is written, there’s imagined to be arduous cap on 80 athletes within the Olympic marathon area. Universality locations are imagined to be included in that quantity and are taken into consideration earlier than the ultimate spots are awarded on the Highway to Paris listing. LetsRun has tried to substantiate this with World Athletics however has but to obtain a response.
It’s unclear how massive of a difficulty this will probably be, although. On the 2020 Olympics, there was just one universality place awarded within the males’s marathon. Most federations usually are awarded universality locations within the 100 meters. Although the 2020 qualifying doc positioned a tough cap of 56 athletes within the males’s 100 meters, 83 athletes have been in the end allowed into the occasion with 27 of these spots going to universality athletes. It’s attainable that occurs once more in 2024 regardless that the IOC has requested World Athletics to scale back the whole variety of athletes in observe & area for this yr (the goal quantity throughout all occasions is 1,810 in comparison with 1,900 for 2020).
It’s additionally value noting that federations should nonetheless present proof of their universality athletes reaching a minimal technical degree of their occasion. That’s more durable to do within the marathon than the 100, and even the worst athlete will probably be performed with the 100 meters in underneath 20 seconds whereas an terrible marathoner could possibly be on the course for 3 hours or extra.
The guess right here is that there gained’t be quite a lot of universality locations awarded within the marathon. But when World Athletics follows its revealed qualifying procedures, these locations will take priority over athletes qualifying by way of world rankings. And they might not be introduced till Could 1 — which signifies that if somebody like Fauble finishes the spring in 79th and World Athletics awards two universality locations, he might all of the sudden discover himself bumped right down to 81st on the final minute.
Alternatively, World Athletics can choose the complete 80-person area primarily based on the Highway to Paris listing earlier than increasing it by a couple of athletes to account for the universality locations. That will go towards its written procedures however that’s additionally what WA did within the males’s 100m in 2020 and nobody raised a stink.
If all of this sounds sophisticated…effectively, it’s. We’ll hold you posted if/after we hear again from World Athletics.
