The women's marathon at the 2024 Summer Olympics was held in Paris, France, on 11 August 2024. It was the 11th occurrence of the event at the Summer Olympics.
Summary The race began at 08:00 Central European Summer Time (UTC+2) with a starting temperature of approximately 19.4°C (67°F), slightly warmer than the men's marathon held the day before. As is typical for championship marathons, the race began with a large lead pack that gradually decreased in size as runners dropped off the pace. 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 broke away from the lead pack, establishing a 15-meter lead near the Palace of Versailles. Approximately one hour into the race, Jessica Stenson then moved into the lead. At the halfway point, following the main uphill section, the leading trio consisted of Mélody Julien, Jessica Stenson and Dakotah Lindwurm.
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 maintained the lead until Tigst Assefa and Peres Jepchirchir closed the gap within the next kilometer. Over the next 5K, the pack whittled down to 12. At about 28K, the race had its steepest climb, some of it up to a 13.5% grade. 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, Sifan Hassan caught up to the lead pack. Over the next 5 kilometres, the pack had reduced to 7 athletes. Meringor and Suzuki lost contact with the group over the following 5 kilometres. Going into the final 2 kilometres, Shankule fell off the pace from the lead group. Over the final sprint, Hassan took the lead, winning the gold medal three seconds ahead of silver medalist Assefa. Obiri won the bronze, 12 seconds further back.
Hassan's winning time of 2:22:55 set a new Olympic record, surpassing the previous record of 2:23:07 set in London in 2012. 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."
A total of 91 athletes started the race, with 80 completing the course. Kinzang Lhamo of Bhutan was the final finisher, completing the marathon in 3:52:59, and received widespread praise for her determination and embodiment of the Olympic spirit.
Background 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, the 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."
Course 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. The route was characterized by significant elevation changes, totaling approximately 436 meters of ascent and 438 meters of descent, with gradients reaching up to 13.5%. Due to the elevation profile, the course has been discussed as one of the more challenging Olympic marathons.
Records +Global records before the 2024 Summer OlympicsRecordAthlete (Nation)TimeLocationDateWorld record2:11:53Berlin, Germany24 September 2023Olympic record2:23:07London, Great Britain5 August 2012World leading2:15:55Tokyo, Japan3 March 2024 +Area records before the 2024 Summer OlympicsArea RecordAthlete (Nation)TimeAfrica (records)2:11:53 WRAsia (records)2:18:59Europe (records)2:13:44North, Central America and Caribbean (records)2:18:29Oceania (records)2:21:34South America (records)2:24:18
Qualification
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.Sean McAlister, "How to qualify for athletics at Paris 2024. The Olympics qualification system explained", Olympics.com, 20 December 2022. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
Results
The event was held on 11 August 2024 starting at 08:00 (UTC+2) in the morning with 91 athletes taking part. Sifan Hassan placed first with an Olympic record of 2:22:55.
Rank Athlete Nation Time Time Behind Notes Sifan Hassan 2:22:55 – Tigst Assefa 2:22:58 +0:03 Hellen Obiri 2:23:10 +0:15 4 Sharon Lokedi 2:23:14 +0:19 5 Amane Beriso Shankule 2:23:57 +1:02 6 Yuka Suzuki 2:24:02 +1:07 7 Stella Chesang 2:26:01 +3:06 8 Lonah Chemtai Salpeter 2:26:08 +3:13 9 Eunice Chebichii Chumba 2:26:10 +3:15 10 Fatima Ezzahra Gardadi 2:26:30 +3:35 11 Dakotah Lindwurm 2:26:44 +3:49 12 Jessica Stenson 2:26:45 +3:50 13 Sardana Trofimova 2:26:47 +3:52 14 Peres Jepchirchir 2:26:51 +3:56 15 Fabienne Schlumpf 2:28:10 +5:15 16 Majida Maayouf 2:28:35 +5:40 17 Thalia Valdivia 2:29:01 +6:06 18 Hanne Verbruggen 2:29:03 +6:08 19 Mekdes Woldu 2:29:20 +6:25 20 Florencia Borelli 2:29:29 +6:34 21 Helen Bekele 2:29:43 +6:48 22 Emily Sisson 2:29:53 +6:58 23 Genevieve Gregson 2:29:56 +7:01 24 Meritxell Soler 2:29:56 +7:01 25 Tereza Hrochová 2:30:00 +7:05 26 2:30:03 +7:08 27 Fionnuala McCormack 2:30:12 +7:17 28 2:30:14 +7:19 29 Sofiia Yaremchuk 2:30:20 +7:25 30 Mokulubete Blandina Makatisi 2:30:20 +7:25 31 2:30:29 +7:34 32 Zhanna Mamazhanova 2:30:51 +7:56 33 Tigist Gashaw 2:30:53 +7:58 34 Malindi Elmore 2:31:08 +8:13 35 Aleksandra Lisowska 2:31:10 +8:15 36 Irvette van Zyl 2:31:14 +8:19 37 Laura Hottenrott 2:31:19 +8:24 38 Kaoutar Farkoussi 2:31:34 +8:39 39 Magdalena Shauri 2:31:58 +9:03 40 Daiana Ocampo 2:32:02 +9:07 41 2:32:07 +9:12 42 Rose Chelimo 2:32:08 +9:13 43 Rebecca Cheptegei 2:32:14 +9:19 44 Gerda Steyn 2:32:51 +9:56 45 Clara Evans 2:33:01 +10:06 46 Galbadrakhyn Khishigsaikhan 2:33:26 +10:31 47 Bayartsogtyn Mönkhzayaa 2:33:27 +10:32 48 Maor Tiyouri 2:33:37 +10:42 49 Anne Luijten 2:33:42 +10:47 50 Mao Ichiyama 2:34:13 +11:18 51 Carolina Wikström 2:34:20 +11:25 52 Mary Zenaida Granja 2:34:34 +11:39 53 2:34:56 +12:01 54 2:35:14 +12:19 55 Gladys Tejeda 2:35:36 +12:41 56 Susana Santos 2:35:57 +13:02 57 Dolshi Tesfu 2:36:30 +13:35 58 Zhang Deshun 2:36:47 +13:52 59 Camille French 2:37:21 +14:26 60 Silvia Ortiz 2:37:23 +14:28 61 Luz Mery Rojas 2:37:24 +14:29 62 Margarita Hernández 2:37:24 +14:29 63 Angelika Mach 2:37:56 +15:01 64 Camilla Richardsson 2:38:02 +15:07 65 Moira Stewartová 2:38:07 +15:12 66 Giovanna Epis 2:38:26 +15:31 67 Helalia Johannes 2:38:36 +15:41 68 Mercyline Chelangat 2:39:40 +16:45 69 Méline Rollin 2:40:17 +17:22 70 Bojana Bjeljac 2:41:13 +18:18 71 Xia Yuyu 2:42:10 +19:15 72 Rosa Chacha 2:42:14 +19:19 73 Mélody Julien 2:42:32 +19:37 74 Angie Orjuela 2:42:57 +20:02 75 Bai Li 2:44:44 +21:49 76 Clementine Mukandanga 2:45:40 +22:45 77 Rose Harvey 2:51:03 +28:08 78 Santoshi Shrestha 2:55:06 +32:11 79 Kinzang Lhamo 3:52:59 +1:30:04 — Matea Parlov Koštro 35 km Rahma Tahiri 35 km Alemu Megertu 25 km Chloé Herbiet 25 km Calli Thackery 25 km Rutendo Joan Nyahora Half Melat Yisak Kejeta 15 km Jackline Sakilu 15 km Joan Chelimo Melly 10 km Sinead Diver Start Fiona O'Keeffe Start Delvine Relin Meringor 2:24:56 +2:01 DSQ
References