The road to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics will begin in St. Louis, which has been chosen to host the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials for both men and women on March 25, 2028.
Announced by USA Track & Field on Thursday, St. Louis earned the hosting rights over Phoenix and will stage the first Olympic selection event for any American sport ahead of the 2028 Summer Olympics.
The marathon trials will determine the first six athletes to qualify for Team USA, with the top three men and top three women securing places on the Olympic roster. The event will also be broadcast nationally by NBC.
Organizers revealed that the race will begin at Francis Olympic Field, the historic venue used during the 1904 Olympics. The course will then wind through downtown St. Louis before finishing inside Energizer Park, home of Major League Soccer’s St. Louis City SC. The complete 26.2-mile course is expected to be unveiled in the coming months.
St. Louis has a strong Olympic heritage, having hosted the 1904 Olympic Games and the 2004 U.S. Women’s Olympic Marathon Trials. More recently, the city hosted the figure skating trials that helped determine the U.S. team for the 2026 Winter Olympics.
The announcement comes amid a surge in running participation and record-breaking performances worldwide. Advances in footwear technology, training methods, and sports nutrition have contributed to faster marathon times across the sport.
Reflecting that trend, USA Track & Field lowered the men’s qualifying standard for the 2028 trials from 2:18:00 to 2:16:00, while the women’s standard remains unchanged at 2:37:00. Despite the tougher benchmark, organizers expect a similar number of participants to previous trials. Currently, 134 men and 139 women have already qualified.
American distance running has also seen significant progress in recent years. Conner Mantz set a new U.S. men’s marathon record in 2025 with a time of 2:04:43, breaking a 23-year-old national mark. The American women’s marathon record remains held by Emily Sisson, who established it in 2022.
While U.S. marathon runners have become increasingly competitive, Olympic gold has remained elusive. The last American man to win Olympic marathon gold was Frank Shorter in 1972, while Joan Benoit was the last American woman to claim the title in 1984.
The athletes who qualify in St. Louis will then focus on preparing for the Olympic marathon in Los Angeles, which is scheduled to begin at Venice Beach during the 2028 Games.