Almgren wins New York Marathon debut as Chepkirui retains women's title

Andreas Almgren won the men's race at the New York City Marathon on his debut over 26.2 miles, while Sheila Chepkirui claimed the women's title for the second time, according to Guardian US Sport.

The Swede clocked two hours, six minutes and one second, pulling clear of Yemaneberhan Crippa of Italy in the final mile. Crippa finished 13 seconds adrift in second, with Kamohelo Mofolo of Lesotho taking third ahead of defending champion Benson Kipruto.

Almgren arrived in New York with a background in half marathons and the 10,000m rather than the full distance, but hung with the lead pack through the race's demanding, hilly route before breaking clear of Kipruto with a mile remaining. He had built such a lead by the closing stretch that he jogged the final metres, arms raised to the crowd.

His winning time was the third-fastest in the event's 50-year history, with the top seven finishers all ranking among the course's all-time ten fastest performances, Yahoo Sports reported. Almgren became the first man to win on his New York debut since Ethiopia's Gebre Gebremariam in 2010.

"I've probably never felt so emotional after a race ever," Almgren said. "With 5k left I felt like I had the legs today … I saw I had a pretty big gap [near the end of the race] and thought: 'OK, just enjoy these last few hundred meters', because this is not something a lot of people get to experience."

He added: "This is my first marathon. I didn't know how I was supposed to feel."

American Zouhair Talbi finished sixth, recording the fastest time ever run by a US athlete in the event.

In the women's race, Chepkirui broke away from compatriot Hellen Obiri in the final 150 metres to win in 2:24:36, having also taken the title in 2024. "The last mile was really tricky, I knew I had to be patient because Hellen was really strong so I had to really push up to the finish line," Chepkirui said. "I am so happy."

Jessica McClain overtook two-time champion Obiri in the closing strides to finish second, six seconds behind Chepkirui. It marked the first time an American woman has finished on the podium since 2018.

"It was a really fun, magical day out there," McClain said. "I really didn't feel great through 18 miles. I just had to stick with it. I don't really know what happened but I couldn't be happier right now."

Marcel Hug won the men's wheelchair race for an eighth time, holding off Daniel Romanchuk by just over a second after Romanchuk surged for the lead in the final mile as the pair entered Central Park.

Sunday's race marked the 50th running of the marathon through all five boroughs of New York. The 1976 edition, the seventh running of the race, drew just over 2,000 competitors including 88 women, compared with roughly 60,000 starters this year, nearly half of them women, from more than 140 countries.

"I think the marathon is one of the best days in New York City, you see the humanity, everyone accomplishing these amazing goals and dreams," said Jesse Hammerman of Staten Island.

Among the field were Eyewitness News anchors Liz Cho and Mike Marza, who ran while raising money for the Alzheimer's Association in honour of former colleague Bill Ritter, who stepped away from the anchor desk in June after disclosing his diagnosis.