Olympians confirmed: Six debutants will run the marathon for Team GB in Paris

If you've ever run a marathon, you'll know that the race itself is just the tip of the iceberg – the final, visible part of your marathon journey that everyone sees and celebrates. However, the vast majority of your marathon endeavour – the huge, hidden part of the iceberg that sits underwater – is the training, dedication and self-belief that must come before.

This is certainly the case for British athletes Calli Hauger-Thackery, Rose Harvey, Phil Sesemann, Emile Cairess and Mahamed Mahamed, who – after years of commitment to and improvement in their sport – have been selected to represent Team GB in the marathon at the 2024 Paris Olympics. They'll now be joined by Welsh runner Clara Evans, who will replace initial pick Charlotte Purdue following her recent ankle injury.

This will be the first time that the six athletes will compete at an Olympic Games – a just reward for meeting their respective qualifying marks at other official marathons within the past year.

Calli Hauger-Thackery nails selection in New York

Calli Hauger-Thackery ran an electric 2:22:17 to guarantee her place as a marathoner for Team GB this year. But, what is most outstanding about this result is the fact that it was achieved at the low-key 2023 McKirdy Micro Marathon in New York – no less than her marathon debut. Having stormed to Olympic qualification on just her first shot, can the 31-year-old now run her second marathon even quicker in Paris?

Rose Harvey shines in Chicago

Formerly a full-time lawyer, Rose Harvey's rise to Olympic selection is all the more remarkable. Although she had always been an accomplished club runner, it wasn't until she was made redundant during the pandemic that Harvey decided to dedicate her attention to running – and it's certainly paid off now. With three sub-2:30 marathons already under her belt, and as the first British woman home at the 2022 London Marathon, she then went on to run a PB of 2:23:21 at the 2023 Chicago Marathon, which guaranteed her selection for Team GB this year.

Clara Evans steps in for Charlotte Purdue

Equipped with a PB of 2:25:01 from the 2023 Valencia Marathon, Clara Evans was originally named as the reserve for Team GB's women's marathon squad. But now, just days before the race in Paris, Evans has made her way onto the team following Charlotte Purdue's devastating withdrawal. An established shining light over long distances, Purdue shot to prominence when she clocked 2:22:17 at the 2023 Berlin Marathon, which was more than enough to book her ticket to her first-ever Games. Sadly, an ankle injury sustained on a long training run forced a premature end to Purdue's Olympic campaign – and a last-minute start to Evans'.

Phil Sesemann secures success in Seville

In February this year, Phil Sesemann squeezed within the Olympic qualifying time when he executed the race of his life in Seville, Spain. Running a PB of 2:08:04, Sesemann booked his ticket to his first Olympic Games and became the then-third-fastest British male marathoner in the process. Like Purdue, Sesemann is now a seasoned marathoner who has completed The Big Half and the London Marathon on several occasions, each time with a strong result. His Seville performance, though, is the jewel in his crown – so far.

Emile Cairess cruises to selection in London

Thanks to his sublime performance at the 2024 London Marathon, Emile Cairess has comfortably secured his place on Team GB's men's marathon squad. A training partner of fellow future Olympian Sesemann, Cairess clocked a sizeable PB of 2:06:46 in London this year, falling well within the Olympic qualifying mark of 2:08:10 on what was only his second ever shot at the 26.2-mile distance. Now the second-fastest British male marathoner of all time with this result, it's somewhat surprising that Cairess wasn't selected for Paris earlier, as he'd already run the 2023 London Marathon in a valid time of 2:08:07.

Mahamed Mahamed makes the mark on The Mall

Cairess wasn't the only one to reap the reward of Olympic selection at the London Marathon this year – Mahamed Mahamed, too, booked his ticket to Paris at this historic race on home soil. Storming through the course in a time of 2:07:05, the now third-fastest British marathon runner was 'over the moon' to have run more than a minute within the Olympic qualifying time, his selection for Team GB being set in stone a week later. Mahamed, 26, has only run two marathons so far – but if his recent result in London is anything to go by, he's only at the start of a fruitful career in this distance.

Arguably the pinnacle of this illustrious multi-sport competition, the marathon has been included in the Olympics since the first Games of the modern era in Athens in 1896. Athletes have faced all kinds of conditions over Olympic marathon courses since then – and the 2024 route plotted for Paris will present its own difficulties.

A looped course that starts at the Hotel de Ville and finishes at the Esplanade des Invalides, it will takes athletes out to the palace of Versailles and pass many other historic monuments and green spaces along the way. With luck, this should serve as some distraction while the runners battle 436m of elevation. As the organisers say, this part of Paris 'is not as flat as it might seem'.

Traditionally, the men’s Olympic marathon has been held on the final day of the Games to close the fortnight of sporting events, with the women’s event taking place the day before. This time, however – 'to showcase the performances by women athletes,' say organisers – the order has been reversed. Sesemann, Cairess and Mahamed will compete in the men's race on Saturday 10 August, while Hauger-Thackery, Harvey and Evans will race on Sunday 11 August.

To put a further spin on this year's events, Paris will also host a unique Marathon Pour Tous – an extraordinary opportunity for members of the public to run the same Olympic marathon course as the elites. This mass-participation marathon – which will be hosted alongside a 10K – will take place overnight, between the men’s and women's races, and see 20,024 amateur runners partake in the Olympic Games in their own, unforgettable way.