46YO USA Runner Sets Sights on Olympic Aspirations After Smashing Decade-Long Marathon Record

As the 2024 Paris Olympics is only a few months apart, the athletes are racing past to prevent missing a chance to participate in the Olympics this year. Therefore, to give these athletes a fair chance, the U.S. Olympic trials will be held this week, where hundreds of marathons will be coming up on tracks for coveted spots at the Olympics.

Along the same lines, one of the USA’s most experienced runners at the age of 46 will be featured at the event. As she says, “Why not show up to the Trials as a 46-year-old and just do your best and compete?.” Interestingly, the mom of three boys at 46 carved her way to the Olympic trails last year, that too with a significant achievement.

Marathon runner is focused only on giving her best

Soon after sitting with Roberta Groner in an interview, Citius Mag posted a short video clip of the marathon runner on its Twitter account. Along with a clip featuring Roberta defying all odds, they penned, “Roberta Groner continues to redefine what’s possible at her age and inspiring the women around her. She holds a personal best of 2:29:09 from the 2019 Rotterdam Marathon and also competed for the U.S. at the World Championships in Doha, where she finished sixth. She’ll be racing in Saturday’s U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials to make the most of her chance to represent her country again.”

In March last year, Roberta’s goal was quite different than it is now. She participated in the invite-only half-marathon race while eyeing a coveted spot at the U.S. Olympic trials; along with the young athletes, like 24-year-old Grace Moore, Groner also stamped her ticket to Orlando. However, Groner’s achievement was quite exceptional. 

While Grace finished third at the event, Groner was ahead of Grace in just 1:11:27 record. Consequently, Groner not only clinched an Olympic trial spot but also smashed the previous record set by Somers Smith in 2010 by two minutes. In the same interview, she said, “I don’t know what’s ahead of me. I don’t know if there’s another P.R. ahead of me. I’m just going to do the best I can do because I love doing this. Running makes me a better person.” Fortunately, women’s marathon runners will qualify for the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics in a less complex manner than men’s.

How to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics? 

13 women have run under the 2:26:50 Paris 2024 qualifying standard and eight more have run under the 2:29:30 “B” standard that would allow them to qualify if they finish in the top three.

Based on the last three trial events, the slowest third-place runner, Shalane Flanagan, in 2016 who finished her route in 2:29:19, securing her spot. Interestingly, there are no qualifying standards for the women’s marathon runs unless and until something crazy happens.

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If everything goes smoothly, then this weekend, the top three finishers at the event will be heading toward the Paris Olympics this summer. However, Roberta is hungry not only for the Olympic spot but also to record a new personal record for herself. Will Roberta be able to claim her first Olympic spot this weekend?

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