Paris Olympic Marathon: A look at Teams Ethiopia, Kenya, USA, Canada, and Japan

© Copyright – 2024 – Athletics Illustrated

Ethiopia named its Olympic marathon team, which includes the legendary Kenenisa Bekele, national record holder with his best of 2:01:41. Also on the men’s team is Sisay Lemma and Deresa Geleta.

The women’s team includes world record holder Tigst Assefa with her best of 2:11:53, Amane Beriso, and Megertu Alemu.

Several other teams are now known, and some are not, like Australia. It will be interesting to see how world record holder Tigst Assefa deals with the heat, the long-awaited duel between Kipchoge and Bekele and Japan’s apparent depth.

Ethiopia

The men

Kenenisa Bekele has had a long and very successful career. When the marathon world record was 2:01:39 by Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge from the 2018 running of the Berlin Marathon, Bekele ran it the following year two seconds slower in poorer conditions. Some would argue that Bekele would have run as fast or faster than Kipchoge in better conditions.

It’s been 20 years ‼️@KenenisaBekele been announced as part of the Ethiopian marathon team for @Paris2024 👀

Bekele won his first of three Olympic golds in Athens 2004 and will turn 42 next month 😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/qu4a9Zos7N

— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) May 16, 2024

Bekele held the 5000m and 10,000m world records for well over a decade at 12:37.35 and 26:17.53, respectively. The now 42-year-old won 11 World Cross Country Championship gold medals including five double years, where he won the short and long courses. He also earned a silver at World Cross. Bekele has won the Berlin Marathon twice and finished second and third twice each during the London and Berlin Marathons. He is a three-time Olympic gold medallist. Arguably Bekele is the greatest distance runner of all time. But does he still have it?

Bekele finished second in the 2024 London Marathon clocking a 2:04:15 finish time, breaking his own world masters (40-plus) age group record. He was narrowly beaten by Kenyan Alexander Mutiso Munyao, who clocked a 2:04:01.

Also racing is Kipchoge, looking to secure his third consecutive Olympic marathon gold medal. He would be the first to do so. The epic duel between the two aging East Africans may still see a 1-2 finish between the two, both managed by NN Running, both former world record holders and Olympic gold medallist.

Sisay Lemma has run as fast as 2:01:48 five months ago in the Valencia Marathon. One month ago he won Boston in the time of 2:06:17. The 33-year-old has run 11 marathon sub-2:08. He has every chance of taking down Kipchoge, Bekele and the entire field in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games Marathon.

Twenty-eight-year-old Deresa Geleta won the Zurich Maratón de Sevilla, Spain in the time of 2:03:27. It is a stretch to say he is a dark horse with a 2:03:27 to his credit. However, warm or hot championship marathons tend to be hilly.

The women

Tigst Assefa is the world record holder. She busted onto the global marathon scene in jaw-dropping fashion. In 2022, she ran the Berlin Marathon in the time of 2:15:37. It was her debut. She followed up that win with the world record in Berlin the following year clocking 2:11:53. Assefa proved that she is a mortal in April finishing second in the London Marathon in the time of 2:16:23.

Assefa is a curious case, as she was formerly an Olympic-level 800m runner having raced in the Rio Olympic Games and owning a best of 1:59.24, pre-super shoe era.

1️⃣ Peres Jepchirchir 2:16:16 (WR)
2️⃣ Tigst Assefa 2:16:23
3️⃣ Joyciline Jepkosgei 2:16:34#LondonMarathon pic.twitter.com/hcNVnIVZlC

— TCS London Marathon (@LondonMarathon) April 21, 2024

Amane Beriso ran 2:14:58 at the 2022 Valencia Marathon. She ran 2:16:58 two months ago in Tokyo to finish in third place. She was bettered by Kenyan Rosemary Wanjiru who clocked a 2:16:14 result to take second. The race was won by Ethiopian Sutume Asefa Kebede who clocked a 2:15:55 performance.

Mergertu Alemu finished fourth at the 2024 London Marathon in the time of 2:16:34, a new personal best. The 26-year-old ran sub-2:29 eight times.

Team Ethiopia looks strong for the Paris Olympic Games. They have the potential to field 3-4 medallists.

Current World Athletics rankings

Women

Men

Other top athletes

While the top-20 rankings and top-80 are deep with Ethiopians, and Kenyans, each country may send only three qualified men and women to the Paris Olympic Games. Additional spots have been opened up for athletes from countries with no qualified athletes which are referred to as universality spots. Also, the refugee team may have potential marathon runners participate. The start list on race day will vary greatly from the top 80 lists. The Olympics are permitting 80 women and 80 men in total.

Team USA

Team USA includes Conner Mantz and Clayton Young who went 1-2 during the USATF Trials in Florida. They have both run under the Olympic standard of 2:08:10. The US is sending three women including Fiona O’Keeffe, Emily Sisson and Dakotah Lindwurm.

None of the American men ran under the standard during the Trials, while eight women did including O’Keeffe in 2:22:10, Sisson with her 2:22:42 for second place and Lindwurm clocking a 2:25:31 for third. Also, Jessica McClain in 2:25:46, Sara Hall in 2:26:06, Caroline Rotich cutting it close with her 2:26:10 result, Makenna Myler four seconds back in 2:26:14 and Lindsay Flanagan, just 25 seconds under the standard of 2:26:50 with her 2:26:25 eighth place finish.

Team Canadav

Canada is sending three athletes. Malindi Elmore is the lone female going on the strength of her 2:23:30 performance in Berlin last September. It is the second-fastest Canadian performance of all time. Elmore finished ninth at the Tokyo Olympic Games. Also going are Cameron Levins with his North American record of 2:05:36 from the 2023 Tokyo Marathon and Rory Linkletter, who clocked a 2:08:01 performance in February in Seville.

The intrigue with the Canadian team is about Levins rolling with the East Africans and Elmore, age 44, but just one year removed from her near national record. Elmore’s career is also interesting as she competed in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games in the 1500m distance event. She had retired, but came back and competed in Tokyo. It was 17 years between Olympic appearances.

Team Great Britain

Charlotte Purdue, Rose Harvey, Calli Hauger-Thackery are on the women’s team, while the men going to Paris are, Emile Cairess, Mahamed Mahamed and Phil Sesemann.

Even though she had qualified, Purdue was left off the team going to Tokyo. British Athletics were convinced that she had not recovered enough from her injuries. British Athletics disregarded her coach Nic Bideau’s documentation of her training. She has since run 2:22:17 during the 2023 Berlin Marathon, however, did drop out of London one month ago.

In that same race, Cairess, turned heads with a new personal best of 2:06:46. The 26-year-old has run only one other marathon, London 2023 where he clocked a 2:08:07 performance. In February, he ran a half marathon in Napoli, Italy in the time of 1:00:01. His highest points ratings are over the two latter distances.

Team Japan

Like Team USA and sometimes Ethiopia, Japan uses an Olympic Trials system. For the Japanese team, the first two finishers regardless of time are guaranteed to go to Paris (top two men and women). The next three in each gender are provisionally selected with a final selection made closer to the Olympic Games.

The trials happened in hideous conditions in October 2023 with the following results:

Women

1. Yuka Suzuki – 2:24:09 – PB – Paris team
2. Mao Ichiyama – 2:24:43 – Paris team
3. Ai Hosoda – 2:24:50 – Paris team, provisional
4. Rika Kaseda – 2:25:29 – Paris team alternate, provisional
5. Natsuki Matsushita – 2:25:57 – Paris team alternate, provisional

Yuka Ando is the top-ranked Japanese runner at 12th according to World Athletics. She earned the position on the strength of her 2024 Nagoya 2:21:18 finish and her 2023 Osaka Women’s Marathon time of 2:22:59.

Honami Maeda is the second-ranked Japanese female runner according to World Athletics at 15th with her Osaka (2:18:59) and Nagoya marathon performance (2:22:32). Suzuki owns a best of 2:24:09 from Tokyo 2023. It has been a while, but Ichiyama clocked a 2:20:29 four years ago in Tokyo. Hosoda clocked a 2:21:42 from London two years ago. Also, two years ago Kaseda ran 2:21:55 in Berlin. Expect a very strong team finish from the Japanese — they are deep.

Men

1. Naoki Koyama – 2:08:57 – Paris team
2. Akira Akasaki – 2:09:06 – Paris team
3. Suguru Osako – 2:09:11 – Paris team, provisional
4. Yuki Kawauchi – 2:09:18 – Paris team alternate, provisional
5. Naoya Sakuda – 2:09:42 – Paris team alternate, provisional

Koyama did one better than the trials clocking a new personal best of 2:06:33 in Osaka in February. Osako ran 2:05:29 four years ago in Tokyo and last year clocked 2:06:13. Kenya Sonota ran the 2023 and 2024 Tokyo Marathons in the time of 2:05:59 and 2:06:54, respectively. Currently, he is ranked as the first Japanese runner and 68th globally.

Team Kenya

The women’s team

The women’s team will be led by defending Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir. She will be joined by former world marathon record holder Brigid Kosgei, as well as current Boston Marathon champion Hellen Obiri. Also on the team are 2023 Tokyo Marathon champion Rosemary Wanjiru, and two-time Chicago Marathon champion Ruth Chepng’etich. Former New York City Marathon champion Sharon Lokedi is an alternate.

Kenya marathon teams for @Paris2024

1. @EliudKipchoge -defending champ
2. Benson Kipruto
3. Timothy Kiplagat
4. Vincent Ngetich
5. Alexander Munyao

1. Peres J -Defending champ
2. Obiri
3. Brigid Kosgei
4. Rosemary Wanjiku
5. S. Lokedi
6. Ruth Chepngetich

(📸 @OlympicsKe ) pic.twitter.com/CMZdb94c9M

— Katami Michelle (@MichKatami) April 4, 2024

Chepng’etich is ranked third on the strength of her 2022 Chicago Marathon winning time of 2:14:18. Wanjiru twice ran 2:16 at the Tokyo Marathon taking first overall in 2:16:28 in 2023 and second in 2:16:14 in 2024. Kosgei finished second at the 2020 (2021) Tokyo Olympic Games marathon in Sapporo, Japan. Both she and Jepchirchir proved they could handle the heat as it was 34C on the day, going 1-2.

The men’s team

Based on the World Athletics’ global rankings, the top four Kenyan men’s marathon runners made the Olympic team. They include Benson Kipruto who is ranked second, Alexander Mutiso Munyao (3rd), Vincent Kipkemoi Ngetich (5th) and Timothy Kiplagat (9th). The number one athlete still on the list is Kelvin Kiptum.

The four who have been announced by Athletics Kenya — with two-time defending Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge — make for an all-star cast. Kipchoge is ranked globally at 16th due to his slower 2:06:50 Tokyo Marathon in March this year but is still capable of winning.

The 39-year-old former record holder has run as fast as 2:01:09. He also held the previous world record at 2:01:39. The current world record was set by Kiptum at 2:00:35. Kipchoge is just one and a half years removed from running Berlin in the time of 2:02:42. An event that he has won five times.

Kipruto won the 2024 Tokyo Marathon in 2:02:16, which is the 33-year-old’s personal best. Kipruto won the 2021 Boston and 2022 Chicago Marathons. Munyao is ranked third based on the strength of his 2023 Valencia Marathon second-place finish in the time of 2:03:11. The year prior he finished third in Valencia in 2:03:29. The former is the 27-year-old’s lifetime personal best. Ngetich clocked 2:03:13 in the 2023 Berlin Marathon to finish second. In the 2024 Tokyo Marathon, he finished third in 2:04:18. Finally, Kiplagat took second in the Tokyo Marathon this year and second in the 2023 NN Running Marathon in Rotterdam clocking 2:02:55 and 2:03:50, respectively.

Despite Kipchoge’s current ranking and the unfortunate passing of Kiptum, Kenya fields the strongest team with three of the top five and four of the top nine. On the outside looking in is Evans Chebet, ranked 10th (9th of eligible athletes). He has run as fast as 2:05:54 during the 2023 Boston Marathon and 2:08:41 in New York — a tougher course. Athletics Kenya is likely banking on Kipchoge running very well to become the first to win three consecutive Olympic Marathon gold medals.