PORTLAND, Ore. — The 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris are about six months away and 15 Portland runners are preparing for their shot at a spot on the U.S. Olympic Marathon Team.
Three men and three women will qualify at the U.S. Olympic Team Marathon Trials on Feb. 3 in Orlando. On Wednesday night, several people gathered at Great Notion Brewing in Northwest Portland to celebrate Portland's Olympic hopefuls. Among those hopefuls is Jesse Joseph.
"Realistically, I'm not going to make the Olympic team because the front of the race will be eight minutes faster than my [personal best]," Joseph said. "But having enough people to be able to compete at a high level really draws attention to the sport that I think it needs."
Jeff Merrill, the president of Portland Track, agrees. The nonprofit put on Wednesday's sendoff and organizes everything from professional track meets to community events.
"I think that Portland, more than any other city in the U.S., is poised to become kind of that European-style track city where people just go crazy for track," Merrill said. "Our goal is to elevate running in the community but also to use running to elevate the community, too, and bind everyone together."
Another way Merrill does that is by livestreaming events, like his monthly Portland Track Brewery Tour. Local runners gather to hear from the top athletes in their field and meet those who just run for fun. Celebrating Portland’s 15 Olympic hopefuls, like Kaitlyn Peale, made Wednesday’s gathering extra special.
"It's an awesome experience," Peale said. "I never thought that I would be here so it's just a really cool and fun thing to be a part of. It's really fun to celebrate that with people who care."
The U.S. Olympic Team Marathon Trials are scheduled to begin at 7 a.m. PST on Saturday, Feb. 3. KGW will broadcast the marathon on tape delay, beginning at 9 a.m. PST.
Portland runners headed to U.S. Olympic Team Marathon Trials:
- Galen Rupp
- Scott Fauble
- Kaitlvn Peale
- Allie Schaich
- Johnny Rutford
- Jesse Joseph
- Rachel Drake
- Julian Heninger
- Sarah Reiter
- Amanda Phillips
- Tara Welling
- Ari Hendrix-Roach
- Jacob Kintzele
- Theresa Hailey
- Jaret Carpenter
VIDEO PLAYLIST: Sports coverage from KGW