Abbott World Marathon Majors look to add a seventh marathon
The Sydney Marathon, Sanlam Cape Town Marathon and China’s Chengdu Marathon are the three candidates
The Abbott World Marathon Majors are looking to expand to a seventh marathon by 2025, and have announced the three races that are in the running. Australia’s Sydney Marathon, South Africa’s Sanlam Cape Town Marathon and China’s Chengdu Marathon are among the three candidates.
To become a world major, the three marathons will be required to meet strict criteria over three years, and the race chosen will join an established group of races: Tokyo Marathon, Boston Marathon, TCS London Marathon, BMW Berlin Marathon, Bank of America Chicago Marathon and TCS New York City Marathon–as a new member of the prestigious Abbott World Marathon Majors group in 2025.
The criteria and standards required to become an Abbott World Marathon Major focus on participation, organization, certification, sustainability and legacy.
Sanlam Cape Town Marathon hopes to be the first African marathon to join the exclusive list. In 2014, the race was one of Africa’s first major sporting events to be declared carbon neutral. The marathon was awarded the prestigious World Athletics Gold Label status for its fifth consecutive year in 2021–the only marathon in Africa to be granted this status.
The Sydney Marathon is the first race in Oceania to be nominated. This marathon is part of the Sydney Running Festival, which attracts thousands of participants to run across the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge and finish under the sails of the Sydney Opera House each year.
The race is a legacy event of the Sydney Olympics, but hopes to attract some of the world’s greatest distance runners and wheelchair athletes throughout the candidacy period. “We expect the presence of elite athletes to draw significant interest in our event, lower current finish times and act as a draw card for age group runners,” said Stuart Ayers, the Minister of Tourism for New South Wales, in a press release.
In 2021, the race went virtual for the second year in a row, due to the pandemic. This year, the race will welcome back thousands of runners on Sept. 18 for its 20th anniversary.
The announcement of the three candidates begins a three-year evaluation process by AbbottWMM.
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