Sweden's Almgren Wins New York City Marathon in His Debut; Chepkirui Repeats

Andreas Almgren of Sweden won the New York City Marathon on Sunday in his first attempt at the distance, crossing the Central Park finish line in 2 hours, 6 minutes and 1 second to become the first debut runner to win the race since Gebre Gebremariam in 2010. Sheila Chepkirui of Kenya won the women's race for the second time in three years, finishing in 2:24:36 and fending off a late surge from American Jess McClain.

A Debut Win Built on a Breakout Year

Almgren pulled away from Italy's Yemaneberhan Crippa in the race's closing miles to win by 13 seconds, according to NBC Sports. His time was the third-fastest in the history of the race's five-borough course, which was introduced in 1976, and made him the first Swedish runner to win any of the sport's six World Marathon Majors.

Almgren had never raced 26.2 miles before Sunday. He arrived in New York on the back of a breakout year that took him from a 1:45-800-meter runner to one of the sport's most versatile distance talents: European 10,000-meter gold in Birmingham in a championship-record 27:23.44, according to Athletics Weekly, followed six weeks later by the half marathon title at the World Athletics Road Running Championships in Copenhagen, where he ran 58 minutes, 6 seconds to become the first non-African winner of that world title since Italy's Stefano Baldini in 1996. Defending men's champion Benson Kipruto of Kenya also started Sunday's race as one of the pre-race favorites.

The depth of the men's field was notable: the top seven men's finishers all rank among the 10 fastest times ever run on the course, per ABC7 New York. Morocco-born Zouhair Talbi, now competing for the United States after joining the Army Reserve, was sixth in 2:06:43 — faster than the previous American course record — while Conner Mantz, who lowered the American marathon record to 2:04:43 at Chicago in October 2025, finished 11th in 2:07:27 in his first race since setting that mark.

McClain Ends an Eight-Year American Drought

In the women's race, Chepkirui held off McClain by six seconds for her second New York title. She won the race in 2024 and was third last year, and her personal best of 2:17:29 dates to the 2022 Valencia Marathon. McClain, of Scottsdale, Arizona, closed hard in the final mile and edged two-time champion Hellen Obiri of Kenya for second place by less than half a second, according to NBC Sports. It was the first podium finish by an American man or woman in New York since Shalane Flanagan was third in 2018. Edna Kiplagat of Kenya, the 2010 champion, was fourth at age 46. McClain arrived in strong form: she ran 2 hours, 20 minutes, 49 seconds at the Boston Marathon in April, finishing fifth overall and breaking Shalane Flanagan's 2014 American-woman course record there. Two late scratches reshaped Sunday's women's race: Olympic champion Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands withdrew because of illness, and 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials champion Fiona O'Keeffe withdrew after hamstring surgery, both roughly three weeks before race day.

A Record Field for a Milestone Year

Sunday's race, run from Staten Island's Fort Wadsworth to Central Park, was the 55th running of the marathon and the 50th anniversary of the five-borough course first used in 1976, organizers noted, according to coverage from CBS New York, which also detailed the street and bridge closures that accompanied the race across the city. More than 60,000 runners started, and the field was drawn from a record pool: New York Road Runners, which organizes the race, received more than 240,000 applications from upwards of 160 countries for 2026 — a roughly 20 percent increase over the previous year — according to industry outlet Endurance.biz. Last year's race already held the record for the largest marathon ever run, with 59,226 finishers. The race, organized by New York Road Runners, is the final stop of 2026 on the Abbott World Marathon Majors circuit, which also includes Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin and Chicago; official results and splits were being posted through the TCS New York City Marathon's own race-tracking system.

Swiss Sweep the Wheelchair Races

Switzerland swept both wheelchair titles. Marcel Hug won his eighth New York men's wheelchair title, finishing one second ahead of American Daniel Romanchuk. It capped a dominant year for Hug, who also won the Boston and London wheelchair titles in April, matching Britain's David Weir's record of eight London victories along the way. In the women's wheelchair race, Catherine Debrunner won her second New York title; American Susannah Scaroni, a three-time champion in 2022, 2024 and 2025, finished third in her first race back since giving birth to her son in August.

For Almgren, Sunday's result raises the question of whether he will move permanently from the track to the roads; for Talbi, a nationality switch that takes effect in August 2027 is expected to make him eligible to represent the United States at the 2028 Olympic Trials marathon, alongside Mantz. New York Road Runners has not yet announced applicant totals for the 2027 race.