The Paris 2024 Olympic Games marathon will feature 80 men and 80 women and, just over a year before its start, the Seville marathon will mark the beginning of the fight to win a place for Paris.
Although Seville is one of the best-known stops on the world marathon circuit, what is it that stands out about this marathon so that more than 200 elite athletes choose it to win the minimum mark for the Games? Its course. As described on its official website, the Seville Marathon presents the flattest circuit in Europe, at sea level and protected from the wind, key issues to consider since they can serve as an obstacle in the search for marks, but also as an advantage.
In addition to the race conditions, the course becomes a major tourist attraction for the city as it passes through the most emblematic places in Seville, such as the Plaza de España, the Torre del Oro, the Giralda, the María Luísa Park or the Maestranza.
Last December, the World Athletics Council approved the minimum marks for the Paris Games. Marathoners will be looking to mark 2:08:10 for men and 2:26:50 for women.
Taking into account the 2022 edition of the Seville Marathon, nine runners achieved a shorter time than set for the Games, including four Ethiopians, with Asrar Abderrahman being the winner with a record of the race (2h.04.43). In women, the Ethiopian Alemu Megertu won the test with 2h.18.51 and shattered, dropping it in almost five minutes, the record of the test achieved by the Ugandan Juliet Chekwel (2h. 23.13) in 2020. The podium was completed by her compatriots Sisay Gola (2h.20.50) and Yeshi Kalayu Chekole (2h.21.17). In these three cases, the athletes were below the qualifying mark of 2:26:50 for Paris.
In relation to that edition, Javier Gavela, Marathon director, recalled that it was the race that gave the most athletes to the two major events of that year, the European Championship in Munich and the World Championship in Oregon, thanks to having been the sixth fastest event in the world in relation to global times. Gavela also said that this year’s goal will be to exceed those records by bringing together a greater number of figures from the African elite in both the male and female categories.
Despite having several athletes who have, so far in the Olympic cycle, achieved lower marks than that established for the next Games, it is clear that the times for Paris are much more demanding if we take into account the 2:11:30 for men and the 2:29:30 minimum for the marathon in Tokyo 2020, as the most recent competition.
This requirement is not only reflected in marathons. In general, the times established by World Athletics are the most demanding in the history of athletics. For example, the minimum mark to achieve direct qualification for Paris in the 100 meters goes from 10.05 in Tokyo 2020 to 10.00. In women’s high jump, the 1.97 meters with which Ruth Beitia won Olympic gold in Rio 2016, is now the minimum qualifying mark.
Despite being published on December 20, the classification process by by time began on November 1 and within the marathon there are already several athletes within those marks. With Paris already on the horizon, athletes are looking to take advantage of every chance they have to achieve the minimum mark and Seville is, perhaps, one of the most concrete ones. We will see if this edition, which can also be seen live on Olympics.com, has any surprises and manages to break all the records of past editions, becoming part of the history of marathon and athletics once again.
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