Mantz pulls from Boston
American record‑holder Conner Mantz has withdrawn from the Boston Marathon after an ongoing injury disrupted his training — a late blow for the U.S. elite field. Race organizers and coverage flagged the withdrawal on April 1 as affecting the top American entrant list for the event. (boston.com)
Mantz sustained a sacral stress fracture after last year’s Chicago Marathon that kept him off the roads until late January, and his publicly visible training on Strava showed a return in early March before vanishing after March 11. (boston.com) He capped a breakout 2025 with two American records — a 59:17 half marathon in Houston (Jan. 19, 2025) and a 2:04:43 marathon in Chicago in October 2025 — and he ran 2:05:08 to finish fourth at the 2025 Boston Marathon. (letsrun.com) With Mantz no longer in the start list, Clayton Young is the top American entrant on paper after his 2:07:04 run and seventh-place finish at Boston last year, while Biya Simbassa (PB 2:06:53), Zouhair Talbi and CJ Albertson headline the remaining U.S. challengers. (runtimeracing.co) The Boston Athletic Association announced bib numbers, corral and wave assignments on March 16, meaning Mantz’s exit arrives after start assignments were released for the April 20, 2026 Patriots’ Day race. (rrm.com) In his statement Mantz said he was “very disappointed” but expects to return to racing after continuing rehabilitation rather than forcing fitness for the April 20 event. (boston.com)
