ORLANDO, Fla. — Thousands of spectators filled up downtown Orlando to watch the top marathon runners around the country participate in the Olympic trials.
Fans shared their excitement on the morning of Feb. 3 as the top men's and women's Olympic hopefuls hit their stride to qualify for the Paris Olympics.
"This is crazy,” Mark Steehler said. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to watch the marathon in your own backyard. Everybody is turning out and we're excited."
"It's definitely a big accomplishment,” Alvaro Rivadeneira said. “We've seen some of the people in this race win Olympic medals, so it's really cool to be able to see them out here."
While we must wait until the summer to know who will win gold in Paris, WPTV now knows who will represent the USA on both the men's and women's sides.
On the men's side, teammates Conner Mantz and Clayton Young met one another 10 meters away from the finish line when Mantz hit his final stride and broke the ribbon to take first place in the men's marathon.
"I was just trying to get to the finish as quick as possible,” Mantz, men's trials gold medalist, said. “I thought I was going to collapse and not finish."
Mantz and his longtime training partner and friend Young said Saturday's ending could not have been written better in a book.
"I just wanted to enjoy every single moment to the finish line,” Young said. “About two miles out, I just knew we were going to get there together, and even though I may have been feeling better, I just wanted to take every step of the way with Conner."
On the women's side securing her spot in Paris was first-time distance runner 25-year-old Fiona O'Keefe, who set an Olympic Team Trials Marathon record of 2:22:10 to break the previous record of 2:25:38 set by Shalane Flanagan.
"Definitely some nerves kicking in. I started to hear people say you're going to Paris, you're going to Paris,” O'Keefe said. “I knew that there were so many strong women behind me, and I was running scared a little bit."
Joining the 25-year-old Olympic qualifier is Emily Sisson, who finished at 2:22:42.
Sission said she aimed to finish at the top spot but knew early on that she needed her best stuff today.
"I thought Fiona looked great. I tried to keep my eyes on her,” Sission said. “I thought that if I kept running my pace, maybe I could reel her back in, and maybe I could pick it up the last few miles. I was hurting a bit, so I just thought, the top three, top three make this team.”