Athletics at the 2024 Summer Olympics – Women's marathon
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| Women's marathon at the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad | |||||||||||||
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 Rose Harvey of Great Britain runs past the Palace of Versailles, retracing the route of the Women's March on Versailles. | |||||||||||||
| Venue | Paris[1] | ||||||||||||
| Date |
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| Winning time | 2:22:55 OR | ||||||||||||
| Medalists | |||||||||||||
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The women's marathon at the 2024 Summer Olympics was held in Paris, France, on 11 August 2024, the 11th time that the women's marathon has been contested at the Summer Olympics.
Summary
[edit]The temperatures for the women's marathon were a little warmer than for the men the day before, at 67 degrees Fahrenheit at the start.[2] As is typical for championship marathons, a giant lead pack congealed and reduced in size as individuals fell off the back. By 15 kilometers, 21 runners remained. There was a 428 metre (1,400 feet) hill climb over the next 3K. Mélody Julien of host France used the home field advantage to break away to a 15 meter lead toward the Palace of Versailles. An hour in, Jessica Stenson then took the lead. At the halfway point, following the major portion of the hill, Julien, Stenson and Dakotah Lindwurm were the top three.
After passing a water station near the Palace, Lindwurm emerged off the front, but Lonah Chemtai Salpeter and Sardana Trofimova, caught up at 24K. Salpeter continued on the front but in less than a kilometre, Tigst Assefa and Peres Jepchirchir closed in. Over the next 5K, the pack whittled down to 12. At about 28K, the race had it's steepest climb, some of it up to a 13.5% grade -- more than one and a half times the Hors catégorie in the Tour de France. Amane Beriso Shankule took the lead there, followed by a smaller pack including Assefa, Hellen Obiri, Salpeter, Jepchirchir, Sharon Lokedi, Eunice Chumba, Delvine Relin Meringor, and Yuka Suzuki.
On the downhill, though, in less than a kilometre, Sifan Hassan, known for her fast finishing kick, caught up to the pack. Over the next 5K, the pack had reduced to Shankule, Assefa, Obiri, Lokedi, Meringor, Suzuki and Hassan. Meringor and Suzuki fell off over the next 5 kilometres. Going into the final 2K, Shankule was the first to go as Obiri and Assefa battled at the front. Lokedi was behind the two with Hassan. But then Lokedi, followed by Obiri began to struggle, and as they fell back, Hassan accelerated. Assefa also accelerated around one turn, but Hassan switched sides sprinting the tangent to pass on the inside of the next turn. Assefa dipped her shoulder to cut off space between her body and the barricade. But Hassan pushed Assefa away to make the pass just as they passed the 42Km marker. Over the final 195 metre sprint, Hassan took the lead, hitting the finish banner for the gold medal three seconds ahead of silver medalist Assefa. Obiri won the bronze, 12 seconds further back.[3]
Hassan's winning margin of three seconds over a distance of greater than 26 miles (42 km) was the narrowest of any women's marathon at the Olympics. After the race, the Ethiopian team filed a protest to disqualify Hassan due to obstruction, which was rejected by the Jury of Appeal. At the post-race news conference, Tigst remarked (through a translator) "I didn’t expect at that moment it would happen. Maybe at that moment, if she didn’t push me I would have the gold."[4][5]
Background
[edit]The women's marathon has been present on the Olympic athletics programme since 1984.
In its four-decade-long Olympic history since the 1984 Los Angeles Games, the women's marathon occurred on the last day of the athletics program for the first time, with the men's race scheduled a day before. According to Tony Estanguet, a triple Olympic slalom canoeing champion and president of the Paris 2024 organising committee, "We wanted to reverse the order in an ambition to more gender equality and bring women to the fore for the first time so the women's marathon will enjoy major visibility on 11 August to cap off the athletics program."[6]
Course
[edit]The marathon course began at the Hôtel de Ville and traversed many of the host city's most iconic landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre before concluding at the Les Invalides. Paris officials have stated the route has taken inspiration from la marche de femmes. Due to the elevation profile, the course has been discussed as one of the more challenging Olympic marathons.[7][8]
Records
[edit]| Record | Athlete (Nation) | Time | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| World record |  Tigst Assefa (ETH)
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2:11:53[9] | Berlin, Germany | 24 September 2023 |
| Olympic record | Tiki Gelana (ETH)
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2:23:07 | London, Great Britain | 5 August 2012 |
| World leading | Sutume Kebede (ETH)
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2:15:55[10] | Tokyo, Japan | 3 March 2024 |
| Area Record | Athlete (Nation) | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Africa (records) | Tigst Assefa (ETH)
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2:11:53 WR |
| Asia (records) |  Honami Maeda (JPN)
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2:18:59 |
| Europe (records) |  Sifan Hassan (NED)
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2:13:44 |
| North, Central America |  Emily Sisson (USA)
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2:18:29 |
| Oceania (records) |  Sinead Diver (AUS)
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2:21:34 |
| South America (records) |  Florencia Borelli (ARG)
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2:24:18 |
Qualification
[edit]For the women's marathon event, the qualification period was between 1 July 2023 and 30 June 2024. 95 athletes were able to qualify for the event, with a maximum of three athletes per nation, by running the entry standard of 2:26.50 seconds or faster or by their World Athletics Ranking for this event.[12]
Results
[edit]The event was held on 11 August 2024 starting at 08:00 (UTC+2) in the morning with 91 athletes taking part.[1] Sifan Hassan placed first in an Olympic record of 2:22:55.[13][14][15]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Paris 2024 - Women's Marathon - Start list" (PDF). Olympics.com. 10 August 2024. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 August 2024. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
- ^ "Olympic Track and Field Aug. 11 Morning Review: Women's Marathon". 11 August 2024.
- ^ https://olympics.com/OG2024/pdf/OG2024/ATH/OG2024_ATH_C77V_ATHWMARATHON----------FNL-000100--.pdf
- ^ "Sifan Hassan wins women's marathon at Paris Olympics after trading elbows with Tigst Assefa". AP News. 2024-08-11. Retrieved 2024-08-11.
- ^ "Sifan Hassan wins women's marathon at Paris Olympics, edging ahead of Tigst Assefa". Voice of America. 2024-08-11. Retrieved 2024-08-11.
- ^ "Paris 2024 marathon route revealed: A challenging race through history and incredible monuments". International Olympic Committee. 5 October 2022. Archived from the original on 15 February 2023. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
- ^ "Paris 2024 reveals routes for Olympic marathon and mass event run | News | Paris 24 | Olympic Games". worldathletics.org. Retrieved 2024-08-03.
- ^ Lorge Butler, Sarah; Dalek, Brian (4 August 2024). "What You'll Want to Know About the Paris Olympics Marathon Course". Runner's World. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
- ^ "All time Top lists – Senior – Marathon women". World Athletics. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
- ^ "Season Top Lists – Senior 2024 – Marathon women". World Athletics. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
- ^ "Records – Marathon women". World Athletics. 3 July 2024. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
- ^ Sean McAlister, "How to qualify for athletics at Paris 2024. The Olympics qualification system explained", Olympics.com, 20 December 2022. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
- ^ "Paris 2024 - Women's Marathon - Results" (PDF). Olympics.com. 11 August 2024. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 August 2024. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
- ^ "Olympic marathon: Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands wins women's race". Le Monde. 11 August 2024. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
- ^ "Une réclamation éthiopienne rejetée sur le marathon féminin des JO de Paris 2024 après un incident dans le final". L'Équipe (in French). 11 August 2024. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
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