A Six Star Finisher is a runner who has completed all six original Abbott World Marathon Majors: Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York. Abbott's official Six Star medal is awarded only for those six races.
Eight. Sydney joined as the seventh Abbott World Marathon Major in 2025, and Cape Town was confirmed as the eighth on June 10, 2026, joining formally at its May 23, 2027 edition, the first Major held in Africa.
Yes. AbbottWMM confirmed the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon as the eighth Abbott World Marathon Major on June 10, 2026. It joins the series at the May 23, 2027 edition, and finishers of the 2026 race received provisional stars upgraded retroactively.
Not as an official medal name. The original Six Star medal covers only the first six Majors and is unchanged. AbbottWMM has announced a Nine Star medal program that begins once the series reaches nine races, with Shanghai as the next candidate and a final evaluation due December 2026. This tracker follows the realistic path to all 8 current Majors, which is a Marathon Ballot framing, not an official medal name.
It depends entirely on your entry route at each race. Published ballot and lottery odds range from about 1% at New York to roughly 33% at Sydney, and Boston has no ballot at all, it is qualifier-only. Charity and official tour-operator bibs can shortcut the wait at every race. This tracker uses expected-value math on the published odds, it is not a guaranteed timeline.
Among the ballot and lottery Majors, Sydney currently has the highest published odds at around 33%, followed by Chicago at about 25% and Berlin at about 20%. Cape Town has not yet published an acceptance rate for its ballot. Boston has no ballot at all, entry is by qualifying time only.