Supermom Jessica Stenson beats Paris 2024 Olympics marathon entry standard in Daegu
Six months after giving birth to her second child, the two-time Olympian clocked a personal best of 2:23:59 at the Daegu Marathon.
Barely six months after giving birth to her second child, Australia’s Jessica Stenson met the women’s marathon qualifying standard for the Paris 2024 Olympics with a personal best timing in Daegu, Republic of Korea on Sunday.
The 36-year-old Australian runner, who became a mother for the second time in September last year, clocked 2:23:59 to finish fourth at the Daegu Marathon 2024. The entry standard for the women’s marathon at the Olympics is set at 2:26:50.
Ethiopia’s Ruti Aga (2:21:08), Kenya’s Angela Tanui (2:21:32) and Evaline Chirchir (2:22:12) claimed the podium spots.
Stenson’s previous personal best of 2:25:15 was set in 2021. The Australian runner won the women’s marathon gold medal at the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham and is already a two-time Olympian, having represented Australia at London 2012 and Rio 2016.
With her effort on Sunday, Stenson became the sixth Australian runner in the women’s marathon to beat the entry standard for the Paris Olympics.
Sinead Diver (2:21:34), Genevieve Gregson (2:23:08), Lisa Weightman (2:23:15), Izzi Batt-Doyle (2:23:27) and Eloise Wellings (2:25:47) also beat the qualification time comfortably.
Each national federation, however, can only send a maximum of three athletes in the women’s marathon for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Achieving the entry standard is just one part of the Olympic qualification process. National Olympic Committees have the final say as to who will be selected to the NOC team for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The women's marathon athletics event at the Paris 2024 Olympics is scheduled for August 11.