US Olympic Marathon Trials: USATF Drops Major Update on Eligibility Criteria Hours Before the Run

The USATF has been keeping American athletes on their toes for quite a while, with several new directives circulated lately. Athletes allege that the sports body is making high demands and giving very little time to fulfill them. But, instead of paying heed to this concern, USATF has now dropped another short-notice instruction for the marathon runners.

The instruction has been received just before the upcoming Olympic marathon trials qualifiers, which are to take place in Orlando. A recent social media upload has revealed another high demand made by the USATF from athletes, as the body aims to harvest the best crop for Paris.

A new directive on timing parameters for marathon runners

Citius Mag added a tweet showcasing the new regulations introduced by USATF for the Olympic marathon trial qualifiers. The tweet carried a screenshot of an email received by participants of the event. The tweet carried the caption, “BREAKING: This email was just sent by USATF to participants at the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials. The tweet further said, “Bottom line is the finishers at the Trials must have run 2:11:30 or 2:29:30 or do it at the Marathon Trials (or be otherwise qualified) to be eligible for selection to the Olympic team.” 

The notification drops at a rather inconvenient time, as the marathon event is scheduled for 3 February 2024. These benchmark timings will consider fresh runs by athletes, and any of the finish times recorded before November 2022 will not be entertained. While this news has dropped rather suddenly on the athletes, another piece of news has dropped suddenly on the fans as well. In fact, it directly eliminates one of America’s biggest Olympic gold medal favorites.

The departure of Tokyo’s bronze medalist from the road to Paris

The women’s marathon division of Team USA looked stacked to the top with several prominent names. One of these names belonged to America’s champion runner, Molly Seidel, who secured the bronze medal for her country in Tokyo. Fans looked forward to seeing Seidel convert her bronze to gold. However, it turns out that she won’t even be able to make it to the starting line in Paris.

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The 29-year-old recently added a video to her Instagram profile where she sadly revealed that she won’t be entering the 3rd February event. She stated that she suffered from a broken patella and had partially torn her patellar tendon, rendering her unable to compete. 

While this is heartbreaking news for fans, all hope isn’t lost. Emily Sisson, Sara Hall, and Keira D’Amato, three of the fastest US marathon runners, are still the top candidates for the upcoming race. Do you think the US marathoners will emerge victorious in Paris?

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