With the Paris Olympics less than six months away, the American track and field team will begin to take shape Saturday at the U.S. Olympic marathon trials in Orlando, Fla. As many as six athletes, three men and three women, could earn a place on the roster for the Paris Games.

When: Saturday, 9 a.m.

TV: Live on Peacock, 9 a.m.; tape-delayed on NBC (Ch. 11 locally), 11 a.m.

Qualifiers: 228 men, 173 women

The course

One loop on a 2.2-mile course, followed by three loops on an 8-mile course. The route is engineered for fast times, with long straightaways and no major hills.

Who makes the team?

The top three women who have run a time of 2 hours, 29 minutes, 30 seconds or faster during the qualifying period — between Nov. 1, 2022, and Saturday's race — will be named to the Olympic team. The top two men will be named to the team if they finish in 2:11:30 or faster, or if they have run that time on a certified course during the qualifying period. The third-place man also could make the team depending on Saturday's times.

Minnesotans to watch

Among the many runners with state ties, Gabi Rooker is the fastest qualifier in the women's field (2:24:35), followed closely by Dakotah Lindwurm (2:24:40). A St. Francis native, Lindwurm is a two-time winner of Grandma's Marathon who earned her qualifying time with a 12th-place finish (fifth American) at last October's Chicago Marathon. A member of the Minnesota Distance Elite training group, Lindwurm and other qualifiers from the club have been living and training in Orlando for the past several weeks.

Two other Minnesota Distance Elite women, Edina resident Annie Frisbie (2:27:02) and Burnsville's Breanna Sieracki (2:33:26), also plan to race. Other women's qualifiers with Minnesota ties include Chaska native Bria Wetsch (2:28:35), Bloomington native Elena Hayday (2:30:51), Rochester native Ava Nuttall (2:35:09), Laura Paulsen of Plymouth (2:36:19), and Minneapolis residents Heather Kampf (2:36:30) and Kimberly Horner (2:36:43).

Elk River's Emma Bates (2:22:10) would have been among the favorites, but she tore a plantar fascia at the Chicago Marathon and is out.

On the men's side, White Bear Lake native Joel Reichow (2:10:37) leads the way. A member of Minnesota Distance Elite, Reichow qualified at last year's Chicago Marathon, where he finished 14th (seventh American). That time was a personal best for Reichow, who was third in the 2022 USA Track and Field marathon championships. Minnetonka native Reed Fischer (2:10:54) also is among the top qualifiers, thanks to a 16th-place finish at the 2022 Boston Marathon.

Minnesota Distance Elite is also sending Kevin Lewis of Richfield (2:13:48), Tyler Jermann of St. Paul (2:14:58) and JP Trojan of Edina (2:16:21). Other men's qualifiers with Minnesota connections include Nadir Yusuf of Moorhead (2:15:27), Ben Olson of Coon Rapids (2:16:04), Foley native Charlie Lawrence (2:16:10), Minneapolis native Malcolm Richards (2:16:15), Wayzata native Jaret Carpenter (2:16:39), Danny Docherty of St. Paul (2:17:07) and Duluth native Matt Welch (2:17:17).

The favorites

The women's field is the fastest in Olympic trials history, and it's also among the deepest. The top two qualifiers, Emily Sisson and Keira D'Amato, both broke the American record in 2022; D'Amato held the mark with a time of 2:19:12 until Sisson lowered it to 2:18:29 nine months later. Betsy Saina (2:21:40) ran the fastest time by an American woman in 2023. Saina's former teammate at Iowa State, 2020 Olympic trials champ Aliphine Tuliamuk, also is expected to be in the hunt, and Rooker is generating buzz.

Conner Mantz and Clayton Young, training partners since their days competing for BYU, are the favorites in the men's race. Mantz was sixth at last fall's Chicago Marathon in 2:07:47, a time that tied him for No. 4 on the list of fastest American marathoners in history. Young finished 13 seconds behind, dropping nearly four minutes off his personal best. 2016 Olympic bronze medalist Galen Rupp has recovered from a back injury and ran a 2:08:48 in Chicago; at age 37, he's trying to become a five-time Olympian and the first three-time winner of the Olympic Trials.