Chicago Marathon is Favorite for Americans Looking for Olympic Standard

By Adam Kopet

The Bank of America Chicago Marathon organizers announced the elite Americans who are set to appear at the 2019 edition of the race Oct. 13. It had already been announced Galen Rupp and Jordan Hasay would be returning to Chicago, along with 2018 champion Mo Farah of Great Britain.

However, now the full list of Americans has been announced. Chief among the other entrants is Amy Cragg. She won the 2016 Olympic Trials marathon and earned the bronze medal in the marathon at the 2017 IAAF World Outdoor Championships. She also has a personal best of 2:21:42 from a third-place finish at the 2018 Tokyo Marathon.

Other women set to race in Chicago include Emma Bates, Stephanie Bruce and Lindsay Flanagan. Bates won the 2018 USATF Marathon Championships in her marathon debut. Chicago will be the second marathon of her career. Bruce has seen recent success, setting personal bests this year over multiple distances on the track and on the roads. Flanagan, like Hasay, already has the Olympic standard following their top-10 finishes at the Boston Marathon.

A full list of elite American women set to race the Chicago Marathon is available in the press release.

After Rupp, the men's field has a precipitous drop-off. Dathan Ritzenhein has run 2:07:47 in his career, well under the Olympic standard of 2:11:30, but he has not bettered the time required since 2015.

However, a large number of Americans have the Olympic standard in their sights. Scott Smith, Brogan Austin and Chris Derrick have all run under 2:13 and will be looking to break 2:11:30. Behind them are seven athletes who have run under 2:14:30.

A full list of elite American men set to race the Chicago Marathon is available in the press release.

In addition to running under the standards of 2:29:30 (women) and 2:11:30 (men), a top-10 finish in Chicago will also give an athlete the Olympic standard, as the race is part of the Abbott World Marathon Majors.

Justin Gallegos has also been listed as part of the elite American field. He was signed by Nike last year and is the first runner with cerebral palsy to be signed by Nike.