The Swede Andreas Almgren, in his debut at the distance, and the Kenyan Sheila Chepkirui, who won her second title after 2024, were proclaimed champions of the 2026 New York Marathon, in its 55th edition run on Sunday, November 1.
Almgren, 31, world champion of the half marathon and European champion of the 10,000 meters this year, crossed the finish line with a time of 2:06:01, ahead of the Italian Yemaneberhan Crippa and the Lesotian Kamohelo Mofolo.
«It’s better than I could have ever imagined. “This marathon thing is really fun,” Almgren said in statements to ESPN once he crossed the finish line at the “TCS New York City Marathon.”
«I don’t think I have ever experienced a race with so much emotion. When Benson (Kipruto) started accelerating with 5 kilometers left, I felt like I had the legs to respond to him. So I responded to each of his changes of rhythm. When I got to 59th Street, I started to open a small gap and I thought: ‘It’s time to attack,’” he added.
The Kenyan Kipruto, champion in 2025, could not sustain his own attack and finished fourth, off the podium by a second, passed by Mofolo at the finish line.
It is the first time since 1994 that the men’s podium at the New York Marathon has no Kenyan representative.
Chepkirui’s second
The Kenyan Sheila Chepkirui and her compatriot Hellen Obiri repeated a head-to-head match like the one in 2025, in which the latter shattered the event record with 2h19:51.
This time it was Chepkirui, 35, who once again reigned in Central Park and recovered the crown won in 2024, which passed into the hands of Obiri last year.
Chepkirui crossed the finish line with a time of 2:23:36, ahead of the American Jessica McClain (2:24:42) and Obiri (2:24:43), who collapsed in the last meters, even giving up second place.
«The last mile was very complicated. “I had to be patient because I knew Helen (Obiri) was very strong, so I had to push as hard as I could until the finish line,” said the Kenyan.
It should be noted that the Uruguayan Julia Paternain, bronze at the Tokyo World Championships, was twelfth with a time of 2h29:09 and the Peruvian Micaela Rivera Wood was fourteenth with 2h29:52.
This 2026 edition also marked the 50th anniversary since the test left Central Park and inaugurated the emblematic and tough route through the five boroughs of the New York city (Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Manhattan).
