Top Three Athletes in the Men's and Women's U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon Guaranteed Olympic Standard

By Adam Kopet

USATF announced Monday that the IAAF has granted Gold Label status to next year's U.S. Olympic Trials marathon, scheduled for Feb. 29 in Atlanta.

The announced qualifying standards for the 2020 Olympics were much tougher than in previous years, 2:11:30 for men and 2:29:30 for women, and made real the possibility that the top three men and women in the race would not be the athletes selected for the Olympic team.

However, athletes who finish in the top five of Gold Label marathons are given the standard automatically, regardless of the time run. With the 2020 Olympic Trials marathon holding Gold Label status, the top three men and women will have the qualifying standard, regardless of whether they had achieved the standard previously.

The Gold Label status will also mean athletes who finish fourth and fifth will also have the standard, should they be needed as alternates.

This is good news, both from a competition perspective and from an athlete perspective. The new standards were released in the lead-up to many athletes' spring marathons. For others, it has meant opting to race a fall marathon when a longer build-up would have been preferred.

The Atlanta Track Club, the host of the Olympic Trials marathon, released a statement from the executive director Rich Kenah on Twitter praising the decision to grant Gold Label status to the race.

Statement from @rmkjr2012 on today’s news that #Atlanta2020 will be an @iaaf Gold Label race: pic.twitter.com/m30ixcKdnA

— Atlanta Track Club (@ATLtrackclub) July 22, 2019

The need to achieve the Olympic standard was high for many athletes. Currently, two men and nine women have earned it, either by time or by finish place in Gold Label or Abbott World Marathon Majors races.

This decision could affect the recently released American fields for October's Chicago Marathon. Rather than rush a marathon to achieve the standard, athletes will be able to focus on their specific needs as they build toward the Olympic Trials marathon in February.