Jared Ward, a 2016 Olympian and sixth-place marathon finisher at the Rio Olympics, made the decision late Tuesday to pull out of the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials set to get underway in Orlando, Florida on Saturday, citing high hamstring pain. 

The 35-year-old BYU professor, who finished 10th at the New York City Marathon in 2021, was 27th at the Trials in 2020 and is coming off a 2:11:44 performance at the Berlin Marathon in September, which was good for 27th place. 

He qualified for the U.S. Olympic team in 2016 after finishing third in the marathon. In recent years, Ward has helped build the Run Elite Program in Utah, which earned an economic development grant in the amount of $1666,400 in 2022 to continue its pathway. 

"When I think of Olympic years, and the Trials specifically, what first comes into my mind are lessons I've learned about myself,"  Ward wrote. "These lessons came in the middle of hard efforts. And I think that is one beauty of really hard things in life; that each tough hurdle offers us the opportunity to rise up and become something better and learn something more." 

Ward, who trains with U.S. Olympic hopefuls Clayton Young, 30, and Conner Mantz, 27, in Provo, Utah, wished them and others well in Orlando. 

"I get a little emotional thinking of the effort that so many have put into this race. I've had a front row seat to some of that work happening in Provo. I'm proud of my teammates, and of so many others that are giving."