An article in Monday’s version of Al Jazeera, which aimed as an instance the monetary challenges aspiring Olympic athletes face, left followers of the elite working scene puzzled. It misleads readers to consider that Ashley Uhl-Leavitt, a 36-year-old private coach from Ponte Vedra Seaside, Fla., would compete on this summer time’s Olympic Video games, as portrayed by Uhl-Leavitt’s buddy Audrey Maheu in a GoFundMe marketing campaign; nevertheless, the American ladies going to Paris for the Olympic marathon have been decided on the U.S. Olympic marathon trials in February, and they don’t embody Uhl-Leavitt.
However, Maheu’s GoFundMe tells a distinct story. Maheu launched the crowdfunding web page in March with the goal of “serving to our buddy and coworker, Ashley, run within the Paris Olympics,” including that she and one other buddy plan to accompany Uhl-Leavitt to help her race. Maheu goes on to misinform readers, saying, “the thrilling information relating to Ashley’s wonderful alternative to race in the summertime video games has started to unfold and supporters have inquired about tips on how to assist our lady get throughout the end line in Paris in lower than six months.” So far, Maheu has raised USD $1,310 towards her purpose of $5,000.
Al Jazeera picked the story up, reporting that Uhl-Leavitt had “an opportunity to compete within the 2024 Olympic Video games.” The article ascribes to Uhl-Leavitt the standing of an elite athlete, stating, “Coaching for this excessive degree of athletics is a full-time job…Uhl-Leavitt is among the many athletes over time who turned to different means to finance their Olympic journey.” The article factors readers to Uhl-Leavitt’s GoFundMe web page to assist her “offset the prices of attending to the video games.” Equally, in an article by Basically Sports activities, Uhl-Leavitt was described as a “New York Metropolis marathon legend…who not too long ago certified for the Olympics.” Uhl-Leavitt ran 4:54:20 on the 2022 New York Metropolis Marathon.
Maheu says that “donations obtained will go in the direction of bills equivalent to airfare, lodging, registration charges, potential bond cash to publish bail for our Paris shenanigans, and different numerous bills concerned in Ashley chasing down this dream.” This isn’t the primary time Maheu has used GoFundMe to fund athletic endeavors. In 2017 she raised USD $7,183 to journey to and compete within the Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.
U.S. feminine marathoners’ journey to qualify for the Paris Olympic marathon concerned, first, qualifying for the U.S. 2024 Olympic Marathon Trials by working 2:37:00 on an eligible course between Jan. 1, 2022 and Dec. 5, 2023. Solely the highest three finishers have been chosen, and so they wanted to attain the Olympic “A” customary of two:26:50, both on the trials or through the qualification window, which closed April 30. The highest three finishers on the trials have been Fiona O’Keeffe (who ran 2:25:312:22:10), U.S. marathon and half-marathon report holder Emily Sisson (2:22:42) and Dakota Lindwurm (2:25:31).
Uhl-Leavitt has been competing in marathons since 2018, and has a private finest of 4 hours and alter. The occasion she plans to run is the mass-participation race on the Olympic marathon (the primary of its form, the place novice runners will probably be allowed to run the identical course, behind the elite fields), which was decided by lottery; the lottery was open to runners worldwide who met the {qualifications}, which embody incomes factors by recording bodily exercise utilizing the official app. There is no such thing as a customary qualifying time for the mass occasion.
On Feb. 9, Uhl-Leavitt revealed on Instagram that she had gained her bib for the race. Later in Might, Uhl-Leavitt shared a photograph from Vernazza, Italy, the place she landed after working 16 miles by means of three nations (France, Monaco and Italy) as part of her coaching for August’s mass participation race. Subsequent on her listing: Paris.
