Olympic Marathon qualification

World Athletics has lifted the limitation of 80 runners in the Olympic Marathon fields.

Any athlete who has met the qualifying times of 2:11:30 (men) or 2:29:30 (women) is eligible for selection for their national teams (of 3 male and 3 female runners). Qualification through the world rankings will not be possible.

Before the coronavirus pandemic led to the suspension of the qualifying period 90 runners had qualified, with qualifications set to resume on 1 December and continue until 31 May 2021.

“There is no longer a limit of 80 athletes in the marathon,” said Jakob Larsen, the new Competitions Director at World Athletics. “At the same time, we are assuming that we will still meet the total number of athletes who can start in athletics at the Olympics.” The IOC has specified a maximum of 1900 starting positions for athletics.

[race-news-service.com]