by Dutchman Abdi Nageeye and Kenyan Sheila Chepkirui pulled away from more accomplished runners in the final half-mile to win their first major marathon titles at the New York Marathon.
A total of 55,646 people finished, breaking the world record of 54,280 set during the Berlin Marathon on September 29.
Tokyo Olympic silver medalist Nageeye beat Kenyan Evans Chebet, 2:07:39 to 2:07:45, to become the first Dutch runner to win in New York. Nageeye, 35, has finished fourth, third and fifth in the last three New York City Marathons.
Nageeye was born in Somalia, moved to the Netherlands at age 6, then moved to Syria for three years, then returned to Somalia before returning to the Netherlands via Ethiopia when he was adopted.
NEW YORK MARATHON: Results
He ran in New York less than three months after dropping out of the Paris Olympic marathon with less than three miles to go. Nageeye was slowed by hip pain following a violent collision with Kenyan Alexander Mutiso before halfway.
Once back in training, Nageeye thought about the Olympic disappointment every day and vowed to make the podium in New York.
“At the end, I said to myself: am I dreaming or not?” he said on ESPN. Nageeye is the second-oldest male runner to win New York after Kenyan Paul Tergat, 36, in 2005 and the oldest man to win his first major world marathon since the series began in 2006.
Chebet won New York in 2022, sandwiched between two Boston Marathon titles.
Sixth-place finisher Conner Mantz was the top American, just as he was at the Olympic Trials in February and the Paris Games in August.
Chepkirui, a 33-year-old mom, dropped defending champion and fellow Kenyan Hellen Obiri late in Central Park during her New York debut.
She clocked 2:24:35, trailing Obiri by 14 seconds. Vivian Cheruiyot, a 41-year-old who won the 2016 Olympic 5,000m, finished third to complete the first Kenyan women’s podium in New York’s history.
Chepkirui entered with the fastest personal best in the peloton – 2:17:29 – and was runner-up in the 2023 Berlin Marathon.
Sara Vaughn was the top American in sixth place in 2:26:57.
New York City marked the last major marathon of 2024. This year, no runner, male or female, won multiple major world marathon tournaments for the first time since 2012 (including the Olympics and World Championships of the world biennials), with the exception of 2020.
The men’s marathon appears to be entering a new era after nearly a decade of domination by Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge, who turns 40 on Tuesday and failed to finish his last marathon at the Paris Olympics.
The women’s marathon still has big stars: Kenyan Ruth Chepngetich broke the world record by winning the Chicago marathon in 2:09:56 on October 13. Dutchwoman Sifan Hassan won her first two marathon starts in 2023, then broke the Olympic record in Paris.
No American runner, male or female, has stood on a major podium since the 2022 Chicago Marathon, the longest drought in a decade.
Also on Sunday, the Americans swept the women’s and men’s wheelchair victories for the first time in New York.
Daniel Romanchuk won his third title in New York and first since 2019 while Switzerland’s Marcel Hug was denied a four-rounder. Hug, who placed fourth, had won his previous 16 consecutive annual World Marathon Major starts.
Susannah Scaroni won her second New York marathon in three years. Scaroni, a four-time Paralympic medalist from Paris, won by 10:42 over compatriot Tatyana McFadden. This is the largest margin of victory in a New York City wheelchair division since 2002.
The next big marathon is the Tokyo Marathon on March 2.
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