Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Women's marathon
The women's marathon event at the 2020 Summer Olympics started at 06:00 on 7 August 2021 in Sapporo. Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya won gold in 2:27:20 followed by world record holder and Kenyan teammate Brigid Kosgei with silver, and American Molly Seidel winning the bronze medal in her third-ever marathon. The race was moved north, from Tokyo to Sapporo because the latter is on average cooler in August, as decided in 2019 by the IOC. The start had been moved an hour earlier to 06:00 for the same reason. The two cities turned out to have almost the same temperature, as Sapporo recorded at 06:00 when the race started and at 08:30. The gifts for the competition were presented by Sebastian Coe, United Kingdom; World Athletics President. Background This was the 10th appearance of the event, having appeared at every Olympics since 1984. Qualification This was the 10th appearance of the event, having appeared at every Olympics since 1984. Eighty-eight athletes competed. A National Olympic Committee (NOC) could enter up to three athletes in the women's marathon if all athletes met the entry standard or qualify by ranking during the qualifying period (the qualification period for "Entry Standard" (2:29:30) was