Prague offers a last chance for Olympic qualification
The Prague International Marathon is one of the final opportunities for athletes to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. It's no wonder that the elite start list for the race includes athletes from several countries looking for a chance to qualify for Paris. While everyone is wondering who the men’s and women’s winners will be, this year The Prague International Marathon is about much more, it’s about athletes looking to fulfill their Olympic dream.
Among the participants, we will see runners from China, Brazil, Mongolia, Peru, Jordan, Ecuador, and India, as well as from Portugal and Bulgaria. Most of these countries have set the standard at 2:08:10 for men and 2:26:30 for women. A maximum of 3 places are available per country, and it will vary according to existing qualifiers in each, but there will still be places up for grabs!
China is sending 3 athletes to Prague – two women, ZhiXuan and Dan Li, and one man, Jianhua Peng. Runners from Brazil also have high hopes in Wendell Souza and Grazi Zarri, who will be striving to achieve Olympic qualification (after all, the well-known runner Paulo Paula qualified for the Rio Olympics in Prague 2016). It will be interesting to see how Grazi Zarri performs, as if she runs well, she could become the first Brazilian woman to represent her country in the marathon at the Olympic Games. Paola Bonilla from Ecuador and Ferdinan Cereceda Rodriguez from Peru are also taking part and hope to perform well here.
Other countries with representatives seeking Olympic places include India, who are sending 3 men, Bugatha Srinu, Vikroma Ban Griyu and Gopi Thonakal. They are joined by Byambac Teseveen from Mongolia, and Moath Alkhawaldeh from Jordan will be – the latter, due to their federation rules, only needing to surpass the 2:17 mark to qualify. In addition, Portuguese runners Jesus Solange and Ana Mafalda Ferreira will also come to Prague to fight for their Olympic dream.
The Prague International Marathon caters for all these athletes' hopes of success, with pacemakers not only for the top athletes in the race but also for those aiming for qualifying times.
Czech fans are already pleased to know that Tereza Hrochová and Moira Stewartová have qualified for the Olympics, and while the Czech men need to improve quite a bit to do the same, the domestic championships , which is part of the Prague Marathon, is a still a very highly valued race. Set at 2:08 the Olympic standard is a tough challenge for the Czech men.
Overview of runners who have announced their intention to attempt to meet the Olympic criteria for their countries in Prague:
Women:
Solange Jesus POR 2:27:30
Dan Li CHN 2:27:32
Paola Bonilla ECU 2:27:38
Militsa Mircheva BUL 2:29:23
Ana Mafalda Ferreira POR 2:31:27
Graziele Zarri BRA 2:42:48
MEN
Byambajav Tseveenravdan MGL 2:09:19
Jianhua Peng CHN 2:09:59
Ferdinan Cereceda PER 2:12:19
Bugatha Srinu IND 2:14:41
Wendell Souza BRA 2:16:20
Mo´ath Alkhawaldeh JOR 2:18:43
Bangriya Vikram Bharatsinh IND 2:27:06
We wish them all the best, hoping that Prague becomes their gateway to Paris.
