It’s become cliché to say that any marathon has the deepest women’s field ever, but there will be no greater showcase for American women’s distance running than the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon on February 3 in Orlando, Florida.

It’s rare that these athletes get to race against just their fellow countrywomen, which makes the Trials such an exciting event to watch. And because this race is less about the outright win and more about nabbing one of three team spots that will earn a spot to compete in the Paris Olympics this summer, it’s every woman for herself out there on the course.

The top three finishers (who have surpassed the 2:29:30 time since the start of the qualifying period) will earn a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team and run the marathon in the Paris Olympics on August 11. A record 15 women entered in the race with qualifying times of 2:25:58 or faster—a time that would have finished among the top three and earned an Olympic berth at each of the 10 women’s U.S. Olympic Trials since its inception in 1984.

While the weather might be warm—temperatures are supposed to be in the upper-50s to upper-60s with high humidity during the race—the course is set up to be a fast one. The athletes will first run a 2.2-mile loop through Orlando’s downtown business district, then transition to three 8-mile loops. There are minimal turns and few noticeable hills, except for a hairpin turn after miles 3, 11, and 18 and a short climb after miles 2, 10, and 18 (spectators should watch for athletes to make a move at these points). The biggest variable right now will be the weather—humidity will absolutely be a factor no matter what, but will the temperature be in the mid-40s to low-50s as hoped for, or will it creep toward the 70s?

Heading into the race, it’s anyone’s guess who will make the U.S. team. There are three women who have run considerably faster than the rest since the qualifying period opened—Emily Sisson (2:18:29), Keira D’Amato (2:19:12) and Betsy Saina (2:21:40).

While the men’s race is a little more complicated, it’s most likely that the first three female finishers in Orlando will be named to the U.S. Olympic team. Eighteen women have already achieved the automatic qualifying time of 2:26:50, which unlocked the three team spots for the U.S., but those spots are open to anyone for whom the stars align in Orlando—as long as they’ve also achieved the second Olympic standard of 2:29:30. There are record-setters, extremely experienced athletes, Olympians, legends, and speedy newcomers in the mix—here’s who to keep your eyes on.

RELATED: Road to the Trials with Neely Gracey

Top 12 Contenders

• Emily Sisson (32, Phoenix, Arizona) is a clear frontrunner, coming into the Trials with the fastest qualifying time—a 2:18:29 at the 2022 Chicago Marathon—and the current North American record in the marathon. She also ran 2:22:09 to place seventh overall and first American in this year’s Chicago Marathon—which, for the record, was only her fourth marathon ever. (She was a top contender at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials in Atlanta, but dropped out near Mile 22.) She placed 10th in the 10,000 meters on the track at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, but does she have what it takes to run sub-2:20 pace without a pacer, and in less-than-ideal conditions? We’ll find out in Orlando.
• After pausing her running career in her early 20s to have a family and pursue a real estate career, Keira D’Amato (39, Richmond, Virginia) has been running very fast since her mid-30s as a Nike-sponsored pro. She shocked the American running scene by setting a new American record (2:19:12) at the 2022 Chevron Houston Marathon, then, as a last-minute replacement for the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, she placed eighth (2:23:34) and helped the U.S. win the team title. D’Amato runs considerably fewer miles than most other runners (usually between 70 to 80 miles per week) while also focusing on cross-training to maintain her fitness—a formula that worked just fine as she set a new half marathon American record last summer (1:06:37, since broken by Weni Kelati).  She didn’t have the race she hoped at last summer’s world championships in Budapest (2:31:35, 17th place), but after a 15th-place finish at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials (2:34:24) she knows this might be her last chance to make it to the Olympics.
• Betsy Saina (35, Colorado Springs/Iten, Kenya) has the third-fastest qualifying time (2:21:40) heading into the Trials, from her fifth-place showing at the 2023 Tokyo Marathon (the fastest U.S. women’s marathon time in 2023). Not only was that a personal best, it was her first marathon after giving birth to her son, Kayla, 14 months earlier. She also won the 2023 Sydney Marathon in 2:26:47, where temperatures were in the mid-70s, which could bode well for the potential heat and humidity in Orlando. A native of Kenya who became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2020 after representing Kenya in the 2016 Olympics, Saina, an Asics athlete, has also been training in warm conditions in Kenya for the past few months.

RELATED: For Betsy Saina, U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon Is a Chance to Represent Her Son

• Sara Hall (40, Crested Butte, Colorado) earned her spot in Orlando—which will be her eighth U.S. Olympic Trials and third for the marathon—by running 2:22:10 for a fifth place finish at the World Athletics Championships in 2023. That makes her the sixth-fastest U.S. marathoner of the last two years, but she also clocked a U.S. record master’s time of 2:25:48 on the notoriously difficult course of the Boston Marathon last April. While she’s shared her setbacks on social media, the the longtime Asics-sponsored pro recently posted about hitting five months without missing a day of running. Hall, a mother of four adopted girls from Ethiopia, has run extraordinary times since her late 30s, including her PRs in the marathon (2:20:32, 2020) and half-marathon (1:07:15, 2022), the latter of which was briefly the American record.
• Molly Seidel (29, Flagstaff, Arizona) is the only marathoner coming into the Trials with an Olympic marathon medal to her name. She won the bronze—becoming the first woman from the U.S. to earn an Olympic marathon medal since Deena Kastor in 2004—in Tokyo after finishing second with a 2:27:31 at the 2020 Trials, which, by the way, was her first marathon. After a rocky few years, the Puma pro qualified with a 2:23:07 at the 2023 Chicago Marathon, where she ran a personal best and finished as the second American. She’s currently dealing with a minor knee injury, but she’s a gritty racer—don’t count her out.
• Sara Vaughn (37, Boulder, Colorado) ran a three-minute personal best (2:23:07) when she finished tenth at the 2023 Chicago Marathon. After she DNFed at the 2023 Boston Marathon, she started working with pro coaches Amy and Alistair Cragg, who have said “there’s still a lot of room for improvement” in Vaughn’s marathon times. Vaughn, a mother of four and a full-time real estate agent, moved up to the marathon in 2021 after a long, successful career as a middle-distance runner on the track. The Puma-sponsored runner said she sees herself as a “dark horse or an underdog that makes the team,” and we’ll get to see if that’s the case in Orlando.
• Susanna Sullivan (33, Falls Church, Virginia) qualified at 2:24:27 with her 10th-place finish at the 2023 London Marathon, the same time that got her selected to represent Team USA at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest. She finished that marathon on a broken kneecap, and took the fall season to recover while working full-time as a sixth-grade teacher. Plus, she recently signed a sponsored contract with Brooks. She’s currently ranked the 13th fastest female marathoner in U.S. history, so if she’s fully recovered, she’ll definitely be in the mix.
• Gabriella Rooker (36, Minneapolis) finished 11th overall and fourth American at the 2023 Chicago Marathon, where her time of 2:24:35 personal best secured her spot at the Trials. She signed with Nike after that race, but held on to her full-time job as a physician’s assistant, only recently dropping down to part-time work in order to prepare for Orlando. She’s a former collegiate gymnast who didn’t start running competitively until her early 30s. Over the course of her five career marathons, she’s gotten faster every time, dropping more  32 minutes from her 2:56:27 debut at Grandma’s Marathon less than three years ago. Will she continue that trend?
• Aliphine Tuliamuk (34, Flagstaff, Arizona) won the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon in Atlanta in 2:27:23, and earned her ticket back by finishing 11th at the 2023 Boston Marathon in 2:24:37, a new personal best (that followed another personal best at the 2022 New York City Marathon). A native of Kenya who became a U.S. citizen in 2016, she ran the marathon at the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo—just seven months after giving birth to her daughter, Zoe—but dropped out due to an injury. When she’s healthy, she’s displayed a fierce competitiveness that has helped her win 10 U.S. road racing championships, most recently a 25K title in 2022. A member of the Hoka NAZ Elite training group, she’s been open on social media about dealing with a chronic hamstring issue that caused her to drop out of the 2023 Chicago Marathon, but seems ready to toe the line in Orlando.
• Lindsay Flanagan (33, Boulder, Colorado) has been on an upward swing since 2018, when she broke the 2:30 barrier for the first time at the Frankfurt Marathon. The Asics-sponsored pro had a big breakthrough race at the 2022 Gold Coast Marathon in Australia, winning in a new PR of 2:24:43. She continued that success with an eighth-place showing at the Tokyo Marathon (2:26:08) and a gritty ninth-place effort (2:27:47) at last summer’s world championships in Budapest.
• Dakotah Lindwurm (28, Minneapolis) has been on a big progression trajectory in recent years, starting with her back-to-back wins at Grandma’s Marathon in 2021 (2:29:04) and 2022 (2:25:01). A Puma-sponsored runner for the past few years, she had a stellar 2023, finishing fourth at the USATF 25K Championships and second at Grandma’s (2:26:56), followed by a breakthrough PR race in Chicago (2:24:40, 12th place, fifth American). Along the way, she’s been in the mix with many of the other top contenders on this list.
• Nell Rojas (36, Boulder, Colorado) has turned in strong performances at the past three Boston Marathons, including the new PR (2:24:51) she set last April in Boston. With a ninth-place finish at the 2020 Olympic Trials and the 2021 U.S. 10-mile championship win under her belt, Rojas has experience on her side. Plus, she’s in prime form heading into the Trials after lowering her half-marathon PR to 1:08:52 at the Houston Half Marathon in January.

RELATED: For Ariane Hendrix, the Olympic Trials Marathon Is Just the Beginning

OTHER CONTENDERS

There are plenty of other impressive athletes to keep an eye on during the race, including Sarah Sellers, a full-time certified registered nurse anesthetist who had a breakthrough runner-up finish (2:25:43) at Grandma’s Marathon in 2022, as well as veterans Kellyn Taylor (2:29:48) and Molly Huddle (2:32:02), who ran well at last fall’s New York City Marathon on their postpartum comebacks after having children in 2022.

And, of course, there’s two-time U.S. Olympic Des Linden, who returns for her fifth Olympic Trials after running 2:27:18 at the 2023 Boston Marathon. She turned 40 last summer and is a long way from her 2011 2:22:38 personal best, but her experience and her competitiveness can’t be overlooked—she finished fourth at the 2020 Olympic Trials, just 11 seconds away from making the Olympic team. She’s running the Boston Marathon again on April 15, but she’ll be competitive in Orlando first.

In total, 173 qualified for the women’s race and 160 are expected to toe the starting line. Of the qualifiers, 158 surpassed the 2:37:00 marathon qualifying time (lowered from 2:45:00 in 2020), while 15 made it via the 1:12:00 half marathon qualifying mark (which translates to a 2:30 marathon). Three accomplished runners making their marathon debuts could also be among the contenders: including Jenny Simpson, a four-time global medalist in the 1,500 meters on the track who’s run 1:10:35 for the half marathon; Fiona O’Keeffe, who has a 1:07:42 half-marathon PR and an 11th-place finish in the at last summer’s road racing world championships; and Natosha Rogers, who has a 1:09:36 half-marathon PR and finished 15th in the 10,000 meters on the track at the 2022 world championships.