Nagiai and Chepkirui win New York Marathon crowns | REPORTS

Abdi Nagyai and Sheila Chepkirui beat their rivals in the final stages to take victory at the TCS New York Marathon, winning respectively World Athletics Platinum Label road race in 2:07:39 and 2:24:35 on Sunday (3).

Nagiai of the Netherlands pulled away from Evans Chebet in the final 400m to secure victory in the men’s race, while Kenya’s Chepkirui used similar tactics to win the women’s race, pushing off defending champion Hellen Obiri for the biggest win of her career. a far cry from his New York City Marathon debut.

Chebet finished second in 2:07:45, followed by fellow Kenyan Albert Korir in third in 2:08:00. Tamirat Tola of Ethiopia, an Olympic champion, last year’s winner and New York course record holder, finished fourth, another 12 seconds back.

Obiri held on to second place among the women in 2:24:49, joining the top three Kenyans along with Vivian Cheruiyot, who followed her compatriots to cross the finish line in 2:25:21.

Nagiai, Chebet, Korir and Tola were part of the large men’s group that completed the 10km in 31:27 and the 15km in 46:54. The leaders completed the halfway mark in 1:05:33 and Tola took the lead by picking up the pace, but 12 other men were still within three seconds of him. There were 14 in the leading group at 25km, who achieved a time of 1:17:48, but only six were able to maintain the pace for 30km – Chebet, Tola, Korir and Nagiai, joined by Kenyans Geoffrey Kamworor and Wesley Kiptoo.

Kiptu was dropped approaching the 32km mark and was 10 seconds behind by the time they reached the fork. Korir was the next to fall back, followed by Tola, who was quickly pushed back as Kamworor and Chebet continued to press the tempo.

However, they were unable to shake off Nagiai and the Tokyo Olympic silver medalist followed Chebet as they pulled away from Kamworor at the 37km mark. They covered 40 km together in 2:01:10, at which point Kamworor dropped to fifth place, overtaken by Tola and Korir.

Feeling good, Nagiai made his own move and Chebet was unable to respond. The 2022 New York champion watched as Nagiay cruised to victory after previously finishing third, fourth and fifth in the race.

“At the finish line I thought: “Am I dreaming or not?” I won New York,” said Nagiay, running his first marathon since failing to finish at the Paris Olympics. “I was so focused. There was hard work behind it.”

In the women’s race, a group of 20 people were separated by four seconds: the leaders covered 10 km in 35:24 and 15 km in 52:37. Chepkirui took the lead at the halfway point, leading the 21-strong field in 1:13:59.

Chepkirui stayed ahead as the group reached 25km in 1:27:55, but at 28km it was Cheruiyot’s turn ahead of Ethiopia’s Obiri and Senbere Teferi as the pace picked up.

The faster pace did some damage, with the leading group reduced to 10 as 30km was covered in 1:44:47. Cheruiyot tried to break free but was grabbed by Obiri and Chepkirui, and the five athletes – the trio joined by Teferi and Younis Chumba of Bahrain – came together again at 34km, covering 35km in 2:01:23.

Teferi was dropped at the 36km mark and Chepkirui began to apply pressure from the front. Obiri followed, Cheruiyot was to the side, and Chumba was a few steps behind, trying his best to stay behind them.

The race was down to three, with the leaders covering 40km in 2:17:47, Chepkirui and Obiri locked in battle with Cheruiyot a couple of seconds behind. Chepkirui was always one step ahead, but she could not get ahead of Obiri, known for his finishing power.

But 400 meters before the finish, it was Chepkirui who opened the gap. Obiri, who was winner in Boston and New York last year and was champion again in Boston in April, was unable to hold on this time to complete the double-double and Chepkirui pulled away to win by 14 seconds.

“The last mile was very difficult, but I tried my best,” Chepkirui said. “I’m really happy.”

Chumba finished fourth in 2:25:58, with Switzerland’s Fabienne Schlumpf fifth.

Best results

Women
1 Sheila Chepkirui (KEN) 2:24:35
2 Hellen Obiri (KEN) 2:24:49
3 Vivian Cheruiyot (KEN) 2:25:21
4 Eunice Chumba (BRN) 2:25:58
5 Fabien Schlumpf (Switzerland) 2:26:31
6 Sarah Vaughn (USA) 2:26:56
7 Senbere Teferi (ETH) 2:27:14
8 Jessica McClain (USA) 2:27:19

Men
1 Abdi Nagiay (Netherlands) 2:07:39
2 Evans Chebet (KEN) 2:07:45
3 Albert Korir (KEN) 2:08:00
4 Tamirat Tola (ETH) 2:08:12
5 Geoffrey Kamworor (KEN) 2:08:50
6 Conner Mantz (USA) 2:09:00
7 Clayton Young (USA) 2:09:21
8 Abel Kipchumba (KEN) 2:10:39