Five Virginia Members Set to Compete at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Marathon in Florida

Virginia Entry/Results Scoreboard

The 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Marathon will be held tomorrow (3-Feb) in Orlando, Florida.

Five (5) members of USATF Virginia (3 men and 2 women) are entered in the event that will begin at 10:10 AM ET. The event will be broadcast live on Peacock TV beginning at 10 AM ET.  A total of 215 men and 165 women are entered.

In the women's race, which will begin 10 minutes after the men, Virginia's Keira D'Amato is considered one of the favorites to finish in the top-three and secure a spot on Team USA for Paris. At the 2023 Houston Marathon she set the then U.S. record running 2:19:12 (the time is still the #2 time ever by an American). She is also the former American record holder and #2 U.S. performer all-time at the half marathon distance (1:06:38, 2023).

Lining up with D'Amato in Orlando will be her training partner Sophia King, 27, of Chesterfield. King, who only took up running in 2021, qualified for the trials running 2:35:47 at the 2022 California International Marathon.

Elizabeth Chikotas, 27, of Harrisonburg is the third USATF Virginia member who will be on the line in Orlando alongside D'Amato and King. She earned her spot in Orlando running 2:35:14 just three months ago at the Philadelphia Marathon. Originally from Hellertown, Pa., she is a 2019 graduate of Penn State University where she competed on the track & cross country teams, earning all-American honors in cross country with her 15th place finish at the NCAA championships.

In the men's race, William Norris, 27, of Charlottesville and Martin Hehir (pictured above), 31, of Crozet are qualified and expected to take the line tomorrow in Orlando.

Norris, a native of Spring Lake, Iowa, qualified for the trials running 2:15:32 at the 2022 Grandma's Marathon. He was a 2-time NAIA All-American while competing for Northwestern College in Orange City, IA. Four year's ago he finished 42nd (2:17:57) at the 2023 trials in Atlanta.

Hehir, a native of Washingtonville, NY and 2015 graduate of Syracuse University, returns to the trials for the second time. At the 2020 trials in Atlanta he finished sixth running 2:11:29. For Orlando, he is entered with a qualifying time of 2:17:16 run at the Bakline's McKirdy Micro Marathon in October but holds a career best of 2:08:59 run in 2020. He is currently in his third (of four) year of the Anesthesiology residency program at the University of Virginia School of Medicine.

The full list of Virginia entries with links to their bios can be found here.