NEW YORK, NY — It was a clean sweep from Kenya in the women’s elite category in the 2024 New York City Marathon, with 33-year-old Sheila Chepkirui taking the top spot for the first time in her career in any major marathon.
This was the first time since 1976 that all three women on the podium were from the same country. Chepkirui finished the race in 2:24:35, followed by fellow countrywoman Hellen Obiri, last year’s race winner, who finished 14 seconds behind Chepkirui. Vivian Cheruiyot finished in third, 45 seconds behind the leader.
“Winning today means a lot to me,” Chepkirui said. “It means my training went really well. The last turn was really tough, but I was able to push through it.”
It was a dead heat throughout much of the race, as at the 25-kilometer (15.5-mile mark), with 18 runners within eight seconds of the lead. With 20 miles to go, Chepkiuri was in the middle of that pack and in fifth place. But just two miles later, she pulled ahead to the
front of the pack, a spot she could hold onto for good.
Chepkiuri finished the race running a very consistent 5:30 mile in the back half of the race, and her consistency helped lead her to the first major marathon victory of her career. In the four previous marathons she’s competed in, Chepkiuri has never finished any slower than 2:19.
However, due to the difficulty of the New York City Marathon, the slowest time of her racing career was good enough for victory.
“New York is a bit challenging,” Chepkiuri said. “It’s uphill and downhill, not like London or Berlin. Here, it’s not about time. It’s about winning.”
Of the Americans in the race, Sara Vaughn, in sixth place, was the top finisher. She finished with a time of 2:26:56.
For the first time in New York City marathon history on the men’s side, a Dutchman finished as 35-year-old Abdi Nageeye was the one to finish first and claimed victory at the New York City Marathon. He narrowly beat out Kenyans and former champions Evans Chebet and Albert Korir to win.
Nageeye took the lead at the 21-mile mark of the race and never looked back, forcing the last three winners of the New York City Marathon to finish behind him.
Nageeye, whose biggest achievement up to this point was a silver medal in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, captures first place for the first time in his world major career. Fresh off of failing to finish at the Paris 2024 Olympics, Nageeye was able to bounce back in a huge way on perhaps the biggest stage.
“I feel really happy with that because I didn’t perform in the Olympics, and that really — I think it was one of my biggest disappointments ever,” Nageeye said. “So I went back to training, and I told myself, you will never get it back. It is done. Paris is over. You can only do one thing: In less than two months, you can do something great at the greatest marathon in the world, so focus on that.”
Nageeye used his knowledge of the course to his advantage in the race. He has previously competed in the New York City Marathon, where he collected top-five finishes in the last three marathons.
“I know the course,” Nageeye said. “Today was two things: survive that race, and my race is after 36 kilometers. I was thinking like a cyclist, survive 36K, and you’re going to win.”
The top finishing American in the marathon was Conner Mantz. Mantz finished in sixth with a final time of 2:09:00.
