The Trials will be available to watch live on Peacock and NBC streaming platforms. Tape-delayed coverage on NBC begins at noon ET. Both viewing options will feature full coverage of the marathon from start to finish, featuring a broadcast team of Leigh Diffey, Kara Goucher, Lewis Johnson and Deena Kastor.
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The 2024 U.S. Olympic track and field team will begin to take form on Saturday with the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in Orlando, Florida.
Orlando is notably the first Florida city to host the event. As a result, hot conditions could be something to monitor, but it's estimated to be just 62 degrees and sunny at the beginning of the race at 10 a.m.
American runners have earned an Olympic marathon medal in back-to-back summer games. Galen Rupp won bronze in Rio, Molly Seidel took bronze in Tokyo and American marathoners have flourished since Tokyo.
Unfortunately, Seidel announced on her Instagram page Thursday morning that a knee injury was forcing her to withdraw from Trials, writing:
"I decided yesterday alongside with my coach that I will not be lining up for the Olympic Trials Marathon this coming Saturday. About a month ago my knee took a turn for the worst. I couldn’t run on it at all. I got an MRI that showed I had broken my patella and partially tore my patellar tendon. ... I have dreamed about making this team and defending my bronze medal at the Paris Olympics since the last Olympics. But I know that the team that we will be sending is going to be the most incredible and most competitive we can be. And I am going to be watching and cheering for all the women racing this weekend."
Click here for a full list of participating athletes.
Loaded women's field contends for three spots
Four of the five fastest times ever run by a U.S. woman have come in the last three years:
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Sara Hall ’s time of 2:20:32 at the Marathon Project in Chandler, Arizona, in December 2020 made her the second-fastest U.S. woman in history at the time (now fourth).
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Keira D’Amato ran a 2:19:12 at the Houston Marathon in January 2022, breaking Deena Kastor ’s record that had stood for over 15 years.
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Just 10 months later, Emily Sisson shattered that mark, running a 2:18:29 at the 2022 Chicago Marathon and giving her the title of fastest U.S. female marathon runner (for now).
While those marks are jaw-dropping, Aliphine Tuliamuk is the defending champion of the Trials, running in 2:27:23 at the 2020 Trials in Atlanta. She'll run in Orlando alongside this stacked field.
Betsy Saina was born in Nandi Hills, Kenya, but became a U.S citizen in February 2021. After running under the Kenyan flag during the 2016 Olympics, Saina will contend for a spot on the U.S. squad in Paris. She ran a 2:21:40 at the Tokyo Marathon in 2023, a personal best.
Jenny Simpson, a 2016 Olympic bronze medalist in the 1500m looks to jump to the marathon, as well. Simpson is a native of the Orlando area and will contend for one of the three women's spots at the marathon in Paris.
Even with Seidel's heartbreaking exit, this women's field is among the best in U.S. history.
Men's field full of familiar faces
The men’s side is a bit more complex. Due to a faster qualifying time than in previous years (2:08:10), only two of a possible three spots for the Olympics have been unlocked. That means that, for now, only the top-two men’s finishers will qualify for an Olympic spot. A third spot could be unlocked later – between the Trials and May – if an American man runs a fast enough qualifying time, but for now, all eyes are on the top two.
Two-time Olympic medalist Paul Chelimo, 33, made headlines last week when he announced he’d run in Orlando, shifting from the track to the road. Chelimo won a silver medal in the 5000 meters in Rio and a bronze in Tokyo. He qualified for the Trials by running a 1:02:22 half marathon last April in Berlin and will look to return to the Olympics in Paris – albeit running almost 40,000 meters more.
The American men who unlocked the first two spots are training partners and fellow Utahns Conner Mantz, who ran a 2:07:47 at the 2023 Chicago Marathon, and Clayton Young (2:08:00 in Chicago). To clarify, “unlocking” a spot doesn’t guarantee a runner a spot on the team – Mantz and Young must still deliver in Orlando to earn their place on the U.S. Olympic track and field team.
Rupp, a four-time Olympian, joins those two and Chelimo as top prospects to earn tickets to Paris. Rupp won bronze in the marathon at the Rio Games and silver in London in the 10,000m.
Sam Chelanga, Scott Fauble, Leonard Korir and Zach Panning are more names to keep an eye on in the men's field.