Boston Marathon men’s preview: Canada’s Tristan Woodfine gets final shot at Olympic qualification

For many athletes in the elite field, the 2024 Boston Marathon is a chance to make one final statement before the Olympic marathon window closes on May 5. For Tristan Woodfine of Cobden, Ont., Boston is his final shot at making the Canadian Olympic team, and although that shot is (in basketball terms), beyond halfcourt, there’s still a small chance for the Canadian marathoner.

Woodfine’s hopes of getting to Paris rest on his performance on Monday, but his finishing time does not matter; for Woodfine to earn a spot on the men’s Canadian Olympic marathon team, he must finish in the top five.

The fifth-place runner at last year’s Boston Marathon crossed the line in 2:08:35, which is close to the Olympic standard of 2:08:10. (Even if Woodfine ran the standard but placed outside the top five, his time would not count, due to Boston’s course being ineligible for records and Olympic qualification because it is a net downhill course.)

Throughout his career, Woodfine has taken some good swings at the marathon distance, but he’s coming off the best hit of his career, finishing sixth at the 2024 Chevron Houston Marathon, in 2:10:39. He followed that up with another sixth-place finish against a deep field at the (hilly) NYC Half in March, beating Ethiopian superstar Kenenisa Bekele.

Woodfine has shown he’s in shape for a 2:08-2:09 result in Boston, but his Olympic qualification will depend on how others finish. In the last 10 years, only one Canadian marathoner has placed in the top five at Boston (Krista DuChene, who finished third in 2018). DuChene stuck to her pace, and many of the top East African elites dropped out due to the torrential downpour and freezing conditions. Woodfine will not get much of a helping hand from Mother Nature. The forecast for Marathon Monday is a high of 19 C, with mixed sun and cloud throughout the day.

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The competition

Woodfine will also face stiff competition, with Kenya’s Evans Chebet looking for his third consecutive Boston Marathon win. Chebet is one of the best tactical marathoners in the world. With a personal best of 2:03:00, he has shown he can contend, no matter the pace at the front. And this year, Chebet has some extra motivation, after being left off the Olympic marathon shortlist by Athletics Kenya. At Friday’s press conference, he reiterated that he was disappointed, but is hoping another win could change the opinion of the Kenyan selection committee. 

The 2024 men’s elite field does not have the firepower it did last year, with the likes of Benson Kipruto and former world record holder Eliud Kipchoge, but there are still six men with sub-2:05 personal bests. The fourth-fastest marathoner in history, Ethiopia’s Sisay Lemma, comes in with the fastest PB in the field, running a jaw-dropping 2:01:48 in Valencia last December. Lemma is likely to be selected for the Ethiopian team in Paris, but a win in Boston would be icing on the cake.

Tanzania’s Gabriel Geay (2:03:00, Valencia 2022) has often been a bridesmaid at Abbott World Marathon Majors, but never the bride. He has two top-five finishes here in Boston (fourth in 2022 and runner-up in 2023). Third time’s the charm?

Two other athletes to watch are Morocco’s Zouhair Talbi and Japan’s Suguru Osako. Talbi finished sixth at Boston last year in 2:08:35, but he has improved as a marathoner since then, winning the 2024 Houston Marathon just three months ago in a personal best 2:06:39. Osako was recently selected for the Japanese marathon team at the 2024 Paris Olympics and came to Boston as a test to prepare him for the Olympic course.

“I knew I needed a challenge,” Osako says of his decision to come to Boston. “The Boston course is as tough as it gets, and I want to fight out there and put myself in a position to win.”

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How to watch

The 2024 Boston Marathon will be broadcasted live on TSN 5 at 8:30 a.m. ET on Monday, April 15. The professional men’s race will begin at 9:37 a.m. ET and will likely conclude around noon. The women’s race will begin 10 minutes later, at 9:47 a.m.