The qualification window for the Olympic marathon at the Los Angeles 2028 Games will run from November 1, 2026, to April 30, 2028. However, athletes will have to begin competing without yet knowing the minimum standards required to secure an Olympic ticket.
World Athletics will announce the qualifying standards in December, after receiving approval from the federation’s Council. Consequently, runners aiming to qualify in the early months of the period will have to wait to learn which times they must achieve.
Approximately 40% of the berths will be allocated through direct qualifying marks and the remaining 60% through the world ranking. In addition, as is customary, each country may enter up to three athletes per gender category.
Direct qualification for the top 5 finishers at Platinum Label marathons
One of the distinctive features of the Los Angeles 2028 qualification system is that athletes who finish among the top five at a Platinum Label marathon during the qualification period will secure Olympic qualification. This provides an additional route beyond the two main avenues: meeting the entry standard or qualifying through the world ranking.
Spain and its major marathons
Seville, Barcelona, and Valencia will be three of the key stops in Spain in the quest for Olympic qualification. The Valencia Marathon, scheduled for December 6, 2026, will be one of the early opportunities on the calendar. The Valencia event, recognized with the World Athletics Platinum Label, already serves as a benchmark for those pursuing fast times, as illustrated by this comparison of the fastest marathons in the world. Seville has also established itself among the fastest races on the international calendar, while Barcelona continues to grow as a reference point for both recreational and elite runners.
70 slots per gender
The Los Angeles Games will feature 70 spots for men and 70 for women in the marathon, ten fewer per gender than at Paris 2024. World Athletics expects to fill roughly 40% of the places through the qualifying standards and the remaining 60% through the world ranking. Each country may qualify up to three athletes per gender.
On March 19, 2028, the top 55 athletes in each gender on the filtered Road to LA Olympic list will be deemed qualified and cannot be displaced. The remaining 15 berths will be filled subsequently. At the close of entries, national Olympic committees may reallocate a berth to a non-qualified athlete if they have posted a time of 2:11:00 or faster for men, or 2:29:00 or faster for women during the qualification period.
