Andreas Almgren and Sheila Chepkirui Win the 2026 New York City Marathon
Sweden's Andreas Almgren won the men's race in 2:06:41 and Kenya's Sheila Chepkirui took the women's title in 2:24:36 on Sunday, while American Jessica McClain finished second and secured a spot at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
NEW YORK, Sweden’s Andreas Almgren won the men’s race at the New York City Marathon on Sunday in 2:06:41, and Kenya’s Sheila Chepkirui won the women’s race in 2:24:36, on a day when nearly 60,000 runners covered the five-borough course and close to two million spectators lined the streets.
Chepkirui won the women’s title for the second time after breaking away from the field with defending champion Hellen Obiri with three miles to go. She won the sprint to the finish in Central Park, while Jessica McClain of Scottsdale, Arizona, passed Obiri in the final 30 meters to finish second. McClain, 34, became the first American woman to reach the podium in New York since 2018, and her finish secured an automatic spot at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. Kenyan women have now won eight straight editions of the race, not counting the 2020 race, which was canceled during the coronavirus pandemic. The top nine women’s finishers all came from Kenya or the United States, with Americans Carrie Ellwood, Weini Kelati and Paige Wood finishing sixth, seventh and eighth.
Almgren gives Sweden its first men’s title
Almgren pulled away from the field to win his first New York City Marathon and collect $100,000. He is the first runner from Sweden to win the race and the first to win on his debut since Gebregziabher Gebremariam of Ethiopia in 2010. Italy’s Yemaneberhan Crippa finished second, 0.13 seconds behind, and Kamohelo Mofolo of Lesotho finished third. Benson Kipruto, last year’s winner, finished fourth. Zouhiar Taibi of Colorado Springs, Colorado, was the top American man in sixth place, and his time of 2:06:43 is the fastest ever run by an American man in New York. Ahmed Muhumed, also of the United States, finished about a minute behind Taibi. The American men’s wait for a New York title goes on: Meb Keflezighi, in 2009, was the last American man to win.
The course started on Staten Island, crossed the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge into Brooklyn, then passed through Queens, Manhattan and the Bronx before returning to Manhattan and finishing in Central Park. Race organizers described the field as one of the deepest ever assembled, with 40 Olympians and Paralympians, 25 Olympic, Paralympic and World Championship medalists, and 22 national record holders.
Wheelchair titles go to Hug and Debrunner
Switzerland’s Marcel Hug won the men’s wheelchair race in 1:28:14, his eighth New York title, after passing American Daniel Romanchuk in the final 100 meters. Romanchuk finished 1.13 seconds behind, and David Weir of Great Britain finished third, more than seven minutes back. In the women’s wheelchair race, Switzerland’s Catherine Debrunner won her second New York title in 1:40:02, finishing more than eight minutes ahead of Tatyana McFadden, a five-time winner. Susannah Scaroni, last year’s winner, finished third, three months after giving birth to a son. Hug and Debrunner each collected $50,000.
Reporting based on coverage by USA Today.
