Three weeks after the women's world record in Chicago by Kenyan Ruth Chepngetich, the first woman to run in less than 2 hours 10 minutes, the last major marathon of the year took place in New York. Unsurprisingly, the two world records did not shake on Sunday, November 3, the hilly course and the absence of pacemakers not being conducive to fast races. The elite field remained no less extensive with seven Olympic medalists and fourteen Paralympic medalists at the start of this prestigious race.
Among the women, the Kenyan Sheila Chepkirui created a surprise to win the New York marathon in 2 h 24 min 34 s. Competing until then mainly in 10 km, the 33-year-old athlete won his first major marathon victory. “My training was very good, I am very happy. I pulled deep within myself on the last mile which was very hard, I pushed to the limit”explained Chepkirui at the microphone of ESPN.
After a relatively slow start to the race, she made a final sharp acceleration in Central Park to get the better of her compatriot Hellen Obiri, defending champion and bronze medalist in Paris. At 41, Vivian Cheruiyot, quadruple world champion, completes this 100% Kenyan podium.
“It was my race today”
Among the men, it was the Dutchman Abdi Nageeye, third in 2022, who won his first victory in the New York marathon in 2 h 7 min 39 s. “I felt so good, I was super focused. The Olympics were very hard for me [abandon à Paris]a big disappointment. Few people believed in me but I knew I was capable of great things, this was my race today”he declared.
At 35, the Olympic vice-champion in 2021 in Tokyo, 6e of the London marathon in the spring, beat three former winners in New York: the Kenyans Evans Chebet (2 h 7 min 45 s) and Albert Korir (2 h 8 min), and the Ethiopian Tamirat Tola (2 h 8 min 12 s). The Olympic champion, winner in 2023, stalled in the last kilometers of the race. As in 2018 and 2019, Tola failed in fourth place, far from his record (2 h 4 min 58 s).
The American Daniel Romanchuck, for his part, won his third New York marathon (2018, 2019 and 2024) in the wheelchair category in 1 h 36 min 31 s. Among the women, it was her compatriot Susannah Scaroni who won in 1 h 48 min 5 s. In all, nearly 50,000 runners took part in the most famous marathon in the world.
