Clara Evans replaces Charlotte Purdue in GB's Olympic marathon squad
British elite runner Charlotte Purdue has pulled out of the women’s Olympic marathon after sustaining an ankle injury during her final long run before the race. Purdue will be replaced by Welsh long-distance runner Clara Evans, who will join Rose Harvey and Calli Hauger-Thackery in the women’s contest as a last-minute call up for Team GB.
The news arrives just days before the women’s race is scheduled to start on Sunday 11 August.
Having been denied a place to run the marathon at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics – despite meeting the qualifying criteria at the time – Purdue bounced back from disappointment to run the 2023 Berlin Marathon in a sublime time of 2:22:17. This PB performance tucked her comfortably within the women’s qualifying mark for Paris, and made her the second-fastest British women of all time over the marathon – an achievement that she now shares with Hauger-Thackery. As such, 33-year-old Purdue was preparing to make her long-awaited Olympic debut in the French capital this summer.
Taking to Instagram to share the news, Purdue said that she was ‘absolutely devastated’ to have to withdraw from the Paris showdown.
‘Last weekend I rolled my ankle on my final long run and although I have tried to manage it and recover, it is now clear that it is more severe than I originally first thought,’ she added on her post.
Evans, meanwhile, who has previously represented Great Britain and Wales, clocked her punchy marathon best of 2:25:04 at the 2023 Valencia Marathon. Within the Olympic qualification mark of 2:26:50, this time broke the Welsh record and positioned her as the reserve for the 2024 Games.
Evans, Harvey and Hauger-Thackery will all make their Olympic debuts this weekend, as will the three athletes in Team GB’s men’s marathon squad: Phil Sesemann, Emile Cairess and Mahamed Mahamed.
Another first is the order of this year’s races. While the men’s Olympic marathon has, since the inaugural Games of the modern era in 1896, taken place the day after the women’s race to close Olympic sporting proceedings, this year – for the first time in history – the order has been reversed to shine a brighter light on women in athletics.
The men’s race will kick off at 7am UK time on Saturday 10 August, while the women’s race will take place at the same time the following morning.
Add both dates to your diary.
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