ATLANTA -- Over 700 Olympic hopefuls descended upon downtown Atlanta under windy conditions for the Olympic Team Trials - Marathon, hosted by Atlanta Track Club. In less than two-and-a-half hours, top competitors emerged to earn spots representing the Team USATF at the Tokyo Olympic Games this summer. Fans can rewatch the marathon, part of the USATF Running Circuit, on NBC Sports Gold. Results are available here. Back-to-back victory for 2016 Olympic bronze medalist Rupp The day’s first race began with 2016 Olympic Marathon Trials fourth-place finisher Luke Puskedra (Eugene, Oregon) making a move to the front around the first mile. He had announced his retirement in February 2019, making him a dark horse coming into Saturday’s race. By mile five, Brian Shrader (Boston, Massachusetts) had moved into the lead ahead of Dan Nestor (Boulder, Colorado) and a large pack of contenders including defending champion Galen Rupp (Portland, Oregon) and Leonard Korir (Colorado Springs, Colorado). Nestor edged ahead of Shrader through mile seven, and that duo established a 27-second lead over the pack. Over the next two miles, Shrader put a gap on Nestor with a strong move, adding eight seconds to his margin and putting 47 seconds between him and the trailing pack. Passing 11 miles in 54:02, Shrader was 19 seconds up on Nestor and just over 50 seconds ahead of the pack. At the halfway point, Shrader’s 64:53 had him 31 seconds ahead of Nestor and 47 ahead of the closest pack. The next two miles saw Rupp surge and move within 23 seconds of Shrader, and there were nine other men within three seconds of Rupp. The reigning champion then pulled ahead of Shrader, with Korir just behind them as they began the third and final eight-mile loop. Rupp’s decisive move signalled the start of the race for Tokyo, and 43-year-old Abdi Abdirahman (Tucson, Arizona) was right by Rupp’s side. Augustus Maiyo (Colorado Springs, Colorado) was also up front and took over the lead briefly and Matt McDonald (Atlanta, Georgia) was tucked in behind that trio next to Korir. Rupp led through 20 miles in 1:38:51, three seconds up on Maiyo and Princeton grad McDonald. Abdirahman was seven seconds behind, and Korir was 14 back. Rupp continued to pull away, stretching his lead over Maiyo to 17 seconds by mile 21, with Abdirahman third and McDonald fourth. Cranking out a 4:44 mile followed by a 4:50, Rupp hit 23 miles in 1:53:15, 42 seconds up on Abdirahman, Maiyo and Korir. Running all alone through 24 miles, Rupp continued to turn in sub-5:00 miles. Behind him, Abdirahman, Maiyo and Korir were joined by Jacob Riley (Boulder, Colorado) as those four men were within three seconds of each other. Maiyo faded back as the runners entered a downhill stretch, and Riley took over second. Defending his title in majestic fashion, Rupp broke the tape at 2:09:20, the third-fastest winning time in Trials history, and was able to watch the final battle down the stretch for the other two Tokyo berths. Rupp joined Frank Shorter as the only athletes, male or female, to repeat as the Marathon Trials champion. Riley had the best finishing kick and claimed second in a PR 2:10:02, while Abdirahman made a record fifth Olympic team with his 2:10:03 in third. Korir was left just off the podium, a heartbreaking three seconds behind in 2:10:06. Abdirahman’s time bettered the pending American Masters men’s 40-44 marathon record of 2:12:10, set by Bernard Lagat in 2019. Tuliamuk takes gold; First time’s the charm for Seidel All the top women were in the lead pack through two miles, passing the mark in just over 11:50 as a result of the uphill start to the race. Emily Sisson (Providence, Rhode Island) and 2016 runner-up Des Linden (Boulder, Colorado) were the leaders after four miles, but just barely as they were only a second ahead of more than 20 other women. Linden, Sally Kipyego (Johnson City, Tennessee) and Sara Hall (Redding, California) led the pack through six miles in 34:24. Content to stay together, a group of 20 passed eight miles in 45:57 and 10 miles in 57:02 with several women taking leading chores on. 14 women passed the half marathon point in 1:14:38 before Sisson took to the front by a second. By 20 miles the pack started to stretch out, with Kipyego and marathon debutante Molly Seidel (Boston, Massachusetts) at the front of the string. Aliphine Tuliamuk (Flagstaff, Arizona) moved to the lead in the next mile, and she, Seidel and Kipyego looked to be the best bets to book a berth in Tokyo. At 23 miles, Tuliamuk and Seidel were shoulder-to-shoulder, 22 seconds ahead of Kipyego, with Laura Thweatt (Superior, Colorado) and Linden pushing to get back in contention. With just over a mile remaining, Tuliamuk put a couple strides between her and Seidel, and Kipyego was more than a minute behind that pair. Fighting through the uphill portions, Thweatt stayed within sight of Kipyego for the final spot on the podium, but Linden strided past her to take over fourth. Tuliamuk pulled away over the final stretch to win in 2:27:23, the second-fastest winning time in Trials history, eight seconds ahead of Seidel. Kipyego held on for the third berth, clocking 2:28:52. Linden gamely tried to make up ground in the last half mile, but was fourth in 2:29:03. The six Olympians will continue their Journey to Gold on August 8 and 9 in Sapporo. The remainder of Team USATF will self-select at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Track & Field, June 19-28 in Eugene, Oregon.