Leonard Korir is officially heading to the Paris Olympics.
After four months of uncertainty, USA Track & Field (USATF) has confirmed that Korir, a 2016 Olympian, has been added to the U.S. Marathon team for the upcoming Paris Olympics.
Korir placed third at U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in February, but since the U.S. men had only unlocked two of a possible three spots on the Olympic team at the time, Korir was initially left on the outside looking in, as Conner Mantz and Clayton Young secured their spots.
This week, World Athletics and USATF announced that the third spot has been unlocked and reallocated to Korir. The Paris Games will represent Korir’s second trip to an Olympics, after placing 14th in the 10,000m at Rio 2016. Korir finished fourth at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in Atlanta, where he missed out on a spot on the Tokyo team by just three seconds.
Korir, a native of Iten, Kenya, joined the U.S. Army in 2015 and has been part of its World Class Athlete Program in Colorado Springs.
Korir, Mantz and Young will race in the Olympic men’s marathon on August 10.