How marathoners qualify — 2:05:00 and 2:22:20, and the window is already open
Marathon Updated 11 Nov 2026
The LA28 marathon qualification window opened Nov 1, 2026 and runs to Apr 30, 2028, so races run since Nov 1 are already inside it.
- Entry standards: 2:05:00 men / 2:22:20 women — down from 2:08:10 / 2:26:50 at Paris.
- Field: 70 athletes per gender (down from 80 at Paris), max 3 per country.
- Two routes: around 40% of places via entry standards, 60% via world rankings (vs 50/50 at Paris).
- Top-5 at a Platinum Label marathon counts as meeting the standard. Jess McClain's 2nd at the New York City Marathon on Nov 1 (2:24:42) counts that way — it is not formal qualification on its own.
- Meeting the standard doesn't guarantee a place. If more athletes hit it than there are quota places, the best performances in the qualification period take priority.
- Mar 19, 2028: athletes in the top 55 on the filtered "Road to LA" quota list (max 3 per country) are locked in; the remaining 15 places are then decided through the same dual pathway.
- Reallocation: at final entries, a country may reallocate a place to an otherwise unqualified athlete who ran 2:11:00 men / 2:29:00 women in the window.
- Course eligibility for the standard: measured by a World Athletics / AIMS Grade A or B measurer, certificate no more than 5 years old, net drop no more than 1m per km. Boston and the California International Marathon are ineligible for the standard on drop grounds.