Preview of the Paris Olympic Marathons 2024

By mitchpa on August 9, 2024 • ( 0 )

By Clay Shaw and Karen Mitchell

We are home from our first Olympics. We left our pro cameras at home. We went as proud grandparents to see our granddaughter who is on Team USA Field Hockey, play in the Olympics at the 1924 Olympic Stadium in Colombes, called Yves du Manoir Stadium. We, the USA, played Argentina, Spain, Australia, and Great Britain. We also saw games with South Africa, Japan, and France. On one of the two non-game days we visited Versailles, where the marathon turns around in front of the Chateau du Versailles and heads back to Paris.

The Olympic Marathons are this weekend. The men start at 8 AM in Paris on Saturday, August 10^th; the women start at 8 AM on Sunday August 11^th. For EDT folks in the USA, it will be live at 2 AM (11 PM on the west coast).

Paris is flat, well not so much. The marathon course is hilly, especially the later half on the return to Paris from Versailles. Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya has won both the Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo Olympic Marathons. This, of course, will be a strategic marathon with hills and no pacers; it should prove interesting.

The Paris Olympic Marathon course starts on the Hotel de Ville, and passes iconic Paris landmarks such as The Louvre, Jardin des Tuileries, Place de la Concorde, the Grand Palais, Trrocadero, before heading to Versailles. On the southerly route back to Paris, the marathon will turn at the Eiffel Tower, with a finish on the Esplanade des Invalides.

In between the two Olympic marathons, the general public will have a marathon and 10K on the same route that the Olympians race. The public “marathon for all” will start at 9 PM on Saturday. It is the first general public event ever organized in the history of the Olympic games.

As you’re watching the coverage on TV, expect the unexpected.

Our photos feature the 2024 USA Olympic Marathon Teams (men and women) from the Olympic Marathon Trials in Orlando, the New Haven 20K Road Race, and the World Athletics Road Racing Championships in Riga, Latvia.