FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Depth Added to Professional Fields for 128th Boston Marathon
presented by Bank of America
BOSTON-The Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) has announced the addition
of seven athletes to the professional athlete field for the 128th Boston
Marathon presented by Bank of America. Among those now entered will be a
pair of Boston Marathon champions, two top-five finishers from February's
U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Marathon and a global gold medalist on the
track.
Set to compete at the 128th Boston Marathon presented by Bank of America
are:
Sara Hall, the fifth-place finisher at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials -
Marathon, where she set a national masters record of 2:26:06. Hall was the
2017 U.S. national champion at the marathon distance, and in 2022 placed
fifth at the World Athletics Championships Marathon. Her lifetime marathon
best is 2:20:32.
Caroline Rotich, the 2015 Boston Marathon champion. Originally from Kenya,
Rotich began representing the USA in October, 2023, and finished sixth at
the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Marathon in February in 2:26:10.
Rotich's marathon best is 2:23:22.
Jenny Simpson, the 2011 World Athletics Championships gold medalist in the
1500m and 2016 Olympic bronze medalist. While she did not finish her
marathon debut at the Olympic Trials, Simpson will take her second attempt
at the 26.2-mile distance in Boston.
Elkanah Kibet, the fourth-place finisher at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team
Trials - Marathon, finished just five seconds shy of the podium in a
lifetime best 2:10:02. Kibet has a pair of top-ten finishes in Boston (8th
place in 2018, 9th in 2022) and was 11th at last year's TCS New York City
Marathon.
Sam Chelanga, a 2:08:50 marathoner, will race his second Boston Marathon.
Chelanga's lifetime best comes from a 9th place showing at the 2023 Bank of
America Chicago Marathon. He placed 30th (2:20:20) at Boston last year.
Chelanga's older brother, Joshua, placed third at the 2001 Boston Marathon.
Masazumi Soejima, winner of the Boston Marathon's Wheelchair Division in
2007 and 2011. From Japan, Soejima most recently placed runner-up in 2019.
Siranesh Yirga, winner of four marathoners between 2022 and 2023, will make
her Boston debut. From Ethiopia, Yirga has won the Lagos, Madrid,
Ljubljana, and Shanghai Marathons, and finished third at last year's Dubai
Marathon. Her lifetime best is 2:21:08.
The above athletes join the previously announced men's and women's
professional field. 2018 champion Des Linden, 2023 fifth-place finisher
Emma Bates, world 50K record holder CJ Albertson, and Team B.A.A. High
Performance member Matt McDonald have all been previously announced as part
of the American contingent for the Bank of America Professional Athlete
Team. A full professional field list can be found here.
Additionally, Team USA Olympic Marathoner Dakotah Lindwurm will race the
Boston 5K presented by Point32Health on Saturday, April 13. Lindwurm
qualified for her first Olympic team by finishing third at the 2024 U.S.
Olympic Team Trials - Marathon. The complete Boston 5K professional fields
will be announced soon.
Also in Boston as part of race weekend -though not competing-will be Conner
Mantz and Clayton Young, the top-two finishers at the U.S. Olympic Team
Trials on the men's side. Both qualified for their first U.S. Olympic Teams
in February.
"The depth and pure talent lining up at the start in Hopkinton gets even
better with the addition of these athletes,” said Jack Fleming, President
and Chief Executive Officer of the B.A.A. "Many fan favorites will be
racing for the podium and Champion's Trophy on Patriots' Day. Thrilling
races are expected in the Open, Wheelchair, and Para Athletics Divisions.”
Ethiopia's Worknesh Degefa and Zeinba Yimer, as well as Eritrea's Nazret
Weldu, have withdrawn from the women's field. On the men's side, Kenya's
Ronald Korir and Eritrea's Filmon Ande have withdrawn.
The 128th Boston Marathon presented by Bank of America will be held on
Monday, April 15, 2024. A field of 30,000 participants will compete,
hailing from 123 countries and all 50 U.S. states.
###
|
