Galen Rupp and Aliphine Tuliamuk Win U.S. Olympic Trial Marathons

Galen Rupp, the Bronze Medalist in the men’s Marathon at the 2016 Olympics, will compete again in the event at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. Rupp repeated as the winner of the U.S. men’s Olympic trial Marathon with a time of 2:09:20. This will be Rupp’s third Olympics; he also competed in the London Games in 2012 in the 10,000 meters.

Joining Rupp will be first time Olympian Jacob Riley and 43 year old Abdi Abdirahman, who will be competing in his fifth Olympics. Abdirahman was in the 2000, 2004, 2008, (in the 10,000 meters in those three Games) and 2012 games (Marathon), but missed the Rio Games in 2016. He’s the oldest U.S. runner to make the Olympic team.

In the women’s Marathon trial, Aliphine Tuliamuk won with a time of 2:27:23 to qualify for her first Olympics. Molly Seidel took second and will also be competing in her first Olympics. Sally Kipyego took third to complete the field. Kipyego won the Silver Medal in the 10,000 meters in the 2012 games, but she was competing for her native Kenya.

Of course, all this hinges on the status of the Coronavirus. The IOC is signaling that it will have to decide in May sometime whether the Games will be held or not. If they are, they will officially open on July 24th.