The Sydney Marathon presented by ASICS is proud to announce that the event has advanced to the second stage of the candidacy process for the prestigious Abbott World Marathon Majors (AbbottWMM).
The Sydney Marathon was assessed by an international delegation from AbbottWMM during the event in September, and was judged to have met the second year candidacy criteria.
To become a Major, the Sydney Marathon will be required to meet strict criteria when it stages its next marathon on Sunday, 15 September 2024. If successful, the Sydney Marathon will become the first race added to the series since the induction of the Tokyo Marathon in 2013, joining an esteemed group of races including; Tokyo Marathon, Boston Marathon, TCS London Marathon, BMW-BERLIN Marathon, Bank of America Chicago Marathon and TCS New York City Marathon - as a new member of the prestigious Abbott World Marathon Majors in 2025.
"Our assessment team found that the 2023 Sydney Marathon has made significant improvements in a number of areas where we required it to raise standards following its 2022 event," said AbbottWMM CEO Dawna Stone.
"The team was impressed with the efforts made to meet the criteria set out in the assessment process, and we now look forward to returning in 2024 for the next stage of their candidacy."
The Sanlam Cape Town Marathon was also assessed in October 2023 - its second assessment year - and while it has not yet achieved a pass, the race was found to have made significant strides towards the standards set out in the assessment criteria. The race will continue its journey in the first stage of the process when the AbbottWMM assessment team visits the race again in October 2024.
The Chengdu Marathon also underwent assessment in October 2023, which was the team's second opportunity to assess the event, and will also continue its stage one assessment journey in 2024 to achieve its first pass.
The Abbott World Marathon Majors team has begun the process of creating a new awards program for runners achieving more than six stars. Plans for this program will be finalised and announced in the second quarter of 2024.
Abbott World Marathon Majors can also confirm that the current Six Star Finisher program will remain unaffected should new marathons join the series.
Dawna Stone said: "We have been listening to our community and fully appreciate the huge appeal of the Six Star Medal. We are also aware of the tens of thousands of runners on their Six Star journey whose strong desire is for this goal to stay in place.
"We have therefore decided that this original award for completing all six current Abbott World Marathon Majors will continue."
CEO of Destination New South Wales, Steve Cox said the Sydney Marathon was a world-class event and that the New South Wales Government was excited by the news.
"What a fantastic achievement by the Sydney Marathon in meeting the Abbott World Marathon Majors criteria this year. 2023 was a record breaking marathon for Australia so a huge congratulations to the organisers, Pont3, and all involved in achieving this important milestone. The New South Wales Government is thrilled to be partnering with Sydney Marathon on its journey to becoming a World Marathon Major. Here's to making next year's event even bigger and better to achieve the ultimate goal of celebrating Sydney Marathon as one of the elite marathons events in the world in 2025."
Wayne Larden, Sydney Marathon Race Director said, "The success of the 2023 event is a testament to the passion and dedication of the local and international running community, supporting not only Sydney but also Australia in its goal of hosting an Abbott World Marathon Major. The Sydney Marathon has already received thousands more registrations compared to this time last year, and the event is on track to achieve record numbers again in 2024."
