The temperatures for the women's marathon were a little warmer than for the men the day before, at 67 degrees Fahrenheit at the start.[2] As is typical for championship marathons, a giant lead pack congealed and reduced in size as individuals fell off the back. 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 used the home field advantage to break away to a 15-meter lead toward the Palace of Versailles. An hour in, Jessica Stenson then took the lead. At the halfway point, following the major portion of the hill, Julien, Stenson and Dakotah Lindwurm were the top three.
On the downhill, though, in less than a kilometre, Sifan Hassan, known for her fast finishing kick, caught up to the pack. Over the next 5K, the pack had reduced to Shankule, Assefa, Obiri, Lokedi, Meringor, Suzuki and Hassan. Meringor and Suzuki fell off over the next 5 kilometres. Going into the final 2K, Shankule was the first to go as Obiri and Assefa battled at the front. Lokedi was behind the two with Hassan. But then Lokedi, followed by Obiri began to struggle, and as they fell back, Hassan accelerated. Assefa also accelerated around one turn, but Hassan switched sides sprinting the tangent to pass on the inside of the next turn. Assefa dipped her shoulder to cut off space between her body and the barricade. But Hassan pushed Assefa away to make the pass just as they passed the 42 km marker. Over the final 195 metre sprint, Hassan took the lead, hitting the finish banner for the gold medal three seconds ahead of silver medalist Assefa. Obiri won the bronze, 12 seconds further back.[3]
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."[4][5]
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, a triple Olympic slalom canoeing champion and 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."[6]
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. Due to the elevation profile, the course has been discussed as one of the more challenging Olympic marathons.[7][8]
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.[12]
Results
The event was held on 11 August 2024 starting at 08:00 (UTC+2) in the morning with 91 athletes taking part.[1] Sifan Hassan placed first in an Olympic record of 2:22:55.[13][14][15]
