FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Rio 2016 U.S. Olympic Marathon Team to Serve as Grand Marshals for
TCS New York City Marathon on Sunday, November 6
Group to ride lead vehicle and participate in race-week festivities as
ambassadors for world's largest marathon
New York, October 18, 2016 - The Rio 2016 U.S. Olympic Marathon Team - Amy
Cragg, Shalane Flanagan, Desiree Linden, Meb Keflezighi, Galen Rupp, and
Jared Ward - has been named Grand Marshals for the 2016 TCS New York City
Marathon on Sunday, November 6, it was announced by New York Road Runners
today.
At the 2016 TCS New York City Marathon, these internationally renowned
runners will participate in race-week festivities, including the TCS New
York City Marathon Opening Ceremony Presented by United Airlines and
contribute to the live race broadcast on WABC-TV, Channel 7 and ESPN2. On
race day all of the team members with the exception of Rupp - who will be
unable to attend due to family commitments - will ride in the official
Grand Marshal vehicle through the 26.2-mile marathon route with Peter
Ciaccia, president of events for New York Road Runners and race director of
the TCS New York City Marathon.
Cragg, a two-time Olympian, was ninth in the Rio 2016 Olympic Marathon
after finishing first at the U.S. Olympic Marathon Team Trials. A former
college teammate of Linden at Arizona State, Cragg also won the 2012 U.S.
Olympic Marathon Team Trials, and she was 20th at the 2013 New York City
Marathon.
Flanagan, a four-time Olympian, was the top American women's finisher in
the Rio Olympic Marathon, placing sixth. She also holds a bronze medal from
the Beijing 2008 Olympic 10,000 meters - becoming only the second American
woman to medal in the distance - and is a two-time USATF Marathon champion,
taking the titles in 2010 and 2012. Flanagan took second place at the 2010
New York City Marathon.
Linden finished just behind Flanagan in Rio, taking seventh in her second
Olympic marathon. She was the fastest American woman at both the 2014 TCS
New York City Marathon and 2015 Boston Marathon, finishing fifth and fourth
in those races, respectively. A regular participant in the NYRR New York
Mini 10K, Linden has finished as high as second place at both the Boston
and Chicago marathons.
Keflezighi, an NYRR Team for Kids Ambassador, finished 33rd at the Rio 2016
Olympic Marathon and starred in the Big Apple in 2009 when he became the
first American in 27 years to win the New York City Marathon. The four-time
Olympian has finished in the top 10 in New York eight times and has
appeared in the race 10 times.
Rupp sizzled in his Olympic marathon debut in Rio, taking the bronze medal
to become just the fourth American man to medal in the distance in the last
100 years and 10th in the modern Olympic era after finishing first in the
event at February's U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials. He is a seven-time
national champion over 10,000 meters and finished fifth in the distance in
Rio. Rupp made his New York City road racing debut at the 2011 NYC Half,
finishing third.
Ward made his Olympic debut in Rio, finishing sixth with a personal-best
after taking third at the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials. A statistics
professor at BYU off the roads, Ward was the top finisher at the 2015 USATF
Marathon Championships, 25km Championships and 20km Championships.
This honor for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Team represents the fourth time in
the history of the New York City Marathon that the race has featured a
Grand Marshal. The marathon's first Grand Marshal was in 1979, when Czech
running legend Emil Zatopek was given the honor. Zatopek still stands today
as one of the greatest distance runners of all time, having won three gold
medals at the Helsinki 1952 Olympics in the 5,000 meters, 10,000 meters,
and marathon. In 2003, Grete Waitz of Norway became the marathon's second
Grand Marshal. One of the most celebrated marathoners ever, Waitz, a New
York Road Runners Hall of Famer, won a record nine New York City Marathon
titles. Last year, Brooklyn-raised filmmaker and quintessential New York
sports fan Spike Lee served as the Grand Marshal, and has since become a
member of the NYRR Advisory Council.
The U.S. Olympic Marathon Team's role as Grand Marshals will highlight a
star-studded American professional athlete field, which will include 12 men
and 11 women who competed at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, and
nine U.S. athletes who competed at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. The 2016
TCS New York City Marathon total prize purse of $803,000 will include a USA
Division for both men's and women's professional runners for the first time
in a decade. The USA Division will total $116,000, with the top male and
female American finisher each taking home $25,000.
The 2016 TCS New York City Marathon will be televised live on Sunday,
November 6, on WABC-TV, Channel 7 in the New York tristate area from 9:00
a.m. to 2:00 p.m. ET, and for the rest of the nation on ESPN2 from 9:00
a.m. to 12:30 p.m. ET.
About the TCS New York City Marathon
The TCS New York City Marathon is the premier event of New York Road
Runners (NYRR) and the largest marathon in the world. Over 1,000,000 people
have finished the race since its first running in 1970 with just 127
entrants and 55 finishers running four laps around Central Park. The race
expanded to all five boroughs in 1976 and is now in its 40th year as a
five-borough affair. Held annually on the first Sunday of November, the
race features 50,000 runners including the world's top professional
athletes and a vast range of competitive, recreational, and charity
runners. Participants from over 125 countries tour the city, starting on
Staten Island at the foot of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge and running
through the neighborhoods of Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx before ending
in Manhattan. In 2015, the inaugural NYRR Youth Invitational at the TCS New
York City Marathon gave young runners the opportunity to run 1.8 miles of
the race course in Central Park, beginning near mile 24 and finishing at
the famed TCS New York City Marathon finish line. More than one million
spectators and thousands of volunteers line the city streets in support of
the runners, while millions more watch the live television broadcast in the
New York area on WABC-TV, Channel 7, nationally on ESPN2, and via various
international broadcast partners around the world. The race is part of the
Abbott World Marathon Majors, which features the world's top
marathons-Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago, and New York-and crowns
the top professional male and female marathoners each year. Tata
Consultancy Services (TCS), a leading global IT services, consulting, and
business solutions organization, is the premier partner of NYRR and the
title sponsor of the TCS New York City Marathon. The 46th running of the
TCS New York City Marathon is set for November 6, 2016. To learn more,
visit www.tcsnycmarathon.org.
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