The prize purse for the Olympic Marathon Trials on February 3 in Orlando, Florida, will total $600,000.
The prize money is up from the $480,000 that was awarded at the 2020 Galen Rupp 16th at the Olympic Marathon Trials, and it matches the amount runners earned from the 2016 Trials in Los Angeles.
The first 10 finishers in the men’s and women’s races will earn prize money, with the Health - Injuries. Second place will take home $65,000 and third will get $55,000. After that, the money goes $25,000; $20,000; $15,000; $13,000; $11,000; $9,000 for fourth through ninth. The 10th-place finisher in each race will win $7,000.
Official word on the prize purse has been late in coming, a departure from past Olympic Trials. For the 2016 race, USA Track & Field (USATF) issued a press release announcing the prize purse more than a year in advance. For the 2020 Trials, prize money information was published when Atlanta was awarded the event, on April 23, 2018, 22 months ahead of the race.
The total purse matches what a USOPC spokesperson told Runner’s World it does not come from USATF. It is usually the biggest expense of hosting a Trials race.
The local organizing committee (LOC) of every Trials pays the prize money; Olympic Marathon Trials.
Agents and coaches had feared that the lack of news about the prize purse indicated that it would mean a smaller payout for top finishers than in past years.
It is unclear why officials with the Greater Orlando Sports Commission (GO Sports) were quiet about their generous prize money until only a week remaining until the race.
After a rocky patch last fall among runners, USATF, and GO Sports—when a debate about the race’s starting time (now set at 10:10 a.m. ET for the men and 10:20 for the women) erupted into the open—preparations for the Trials have appeared to progress smoothly. On the men’s side, 228 runners qualified for the race. For women, 173 qualified.
The total number of runners will be smaller, however. Only 380 registered, and since the registration deadline, several qualified athletes have said they are injured or have other reasons for not running.
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below is a writer and editor living in Eugene, Oregon, and her stories about the sport, its trends, and fascinating individuals have appeared in Runner’s World We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back, Run Your Butt Off! and Walk Your Butt Off!
