The night before the women’s marathon in Paris 2024 GamesWhile the Olympic runners slept, an entirely different competition lit up the city streets — and no one had to be a world-class athlete to participate.
Node Marathon for everyone (which translates to ‘Marathon for All’ in English), 20,024 regular runners ran the same iconic course – and crossed the same finish line – as Sifan Hassan and Tola Tamirat, the respective winners of the women’s and men’s marathon. gold medalists. For those who wanted to follow in the footsteps of these iconic Olympians, but not all 26.2 miles of them, a simultaneous 10-kilometer (also known as 6.2-mile) race was also held in central Paris. In total, more than 40,000 people from 127 countries took part in the two events, according to the Associated press. Both events were held the night before the women’s marathon on August 11.
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As the official website of the 2024 Games notes, this is the first time an Olympic marathon route has been opened to the public. It was part of the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) effort to make visitors feel like they were part of the action and give them “unforgettable, lifelong” memories of this year’s Games.
Making it even more special? The course, for both Olympic and amateur athletes, was designed to highlight key moments in French history. The starting gun was fired at the Hôtel de Ville, where the Women’s March on Versailles took place in 1789. Runners then traveled through nine districts of Paris, passing iconic landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre and the Palace of Versailles before crossing the finish line at the Esplanade des Invalides.
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