New York City Marathon results: Abdi Nageeye, Sheila Chepkirui stun historic fields with upset wins

Sunday’s New York City Marathon fields were loaded with Olympic medalists, world record holders and some of the most dominant major marathon winners in recent history.

But 26.2 miles later, the men’s and women’s race winners were none of those things.

First, Sheila Chepkirui took the tape in the women’s race with a thrilling last mile: Outkicking Hellen Obiri and slamming the door on Obiri’s legendary past two years. Chepkirui finished with a time of 2:24:35, a fulfillment of the promise she had flashed for years.

And while she was running away from Obiri, a similar tale was unfolding in the men’s race, as Dutch star Abdi Nageeye stunned a loaded field to win his first major. The men’s field was expected to be all about Ethiopian legend Tamirat Tola continuing his unprecedented 2024 run, but Nageeye hung in the shadows until it was his time to shine.

Your 2024 #TCSNYCMarathon Open Men’s division champion is Abdi Nageeye of the Netherlands in an official time of 2:07:39. 🥇 pic.twitter.com/ySskoNtIap

— TCS New York City Marathon (@nycmarathon) November 3, 2024

Just months after he failed to finish the full 26.2 miles of the Olympic marathon in Paris, Nageeye not only completed the New York course Sunday but he got faster as he went. With a negative split of 62:02 in Sunday’s second half, Nageeye ran away from Evans Chebet, Tola and a historically deep field to win with a time of 2:07:39.

“I was thinking I’m dreaming,” he said after wiping the finish-line tears from his eyes.

“Nobody was believing in me, even the favorites I wasn’t even in the top five. But I knew what I was capable of.”

Tola looked like a fearless champion through the first 20 miles, matching every surge and flashing his Olympic gold-medal fitness on each hill. The winner of the 2023 New York City Marathon and the 2022 World Championship appeared primed to add another piece of valuable hardware to his trophy case.

But in the final 10k, the variables of the marathon finally overcame the inevitability of Tola’s successes, and the reigning New York City Marathon winner fell off the lead pack as the race appeared to fall into Chebet’s hands. Chebet, a six-time marathon winner and two-time Boston champ, took the lead pack into the final miles, but it was there where Nageeye’s experience with the course finally paid dividends.

Nageeye’s fourth New York City Marathon finally ended as he has long dreamt, and he said after the race he couldn’t believe it was real. Afterward, he spoke about how his familiarity with the course helped him finally cash in on the race of his lifetime, specifically mentioning what he knew he needed to do in order to survive the blustery Brooklyn Bridge.

Chepkirui, like Nageeye, entered Sunday with an impressive resume, but had yet to put it all together on the biggest of stages.

With a 2:17:29 personal best, Chepkirui was feared but certainly a darkhorse on the famed course featuring back-to-back Boston Marathon winner Obiri, Sharon Lokedi and Vivian Cheruiyot.

After the 2022 and 2023 New York City Marathons were won with thrilling last-minute sprints, Sunday’s race appeared to be another display of dominance for Obiri in the final five miles, using multiple surges and matching multiple others to whittle down the lead pack from six to four to three to two.

But Chepkirui proved to be the unbreakable pest in Obiri’s mission to go back-to-back.

In the last mile, the 33-year-old Chepkirui was not only still by Obiri’s side, but taking control. When it appeared Obiri was letting her Kenyan compatriot set the pace, Chepkirui took that pace and slammed her foot on the gas, sprinting away to win her first major marathon and announce her arrival to the world that she is on the elite scene to stay.

“It was really hard, I pushed myself to the limit and I’m so happy,” she said after the race.

The running world knew Chepkirui was capable of a performance like Sunday’s, but had yet to see her string it together over 26.2 miles. Her resume boasts a 64:36 half marathon and the aforementioned marathon personal best, which came in Valencia in 2022. Chepkirui flashed that dominance again last fall with a 2:17:49 finish in Berlin, a performance largely overshadowed by Tigst Assefa’s world record day, then again this spring with a sixth-place finish in London.

Sunday marked her ultimate breakthrough.

(Photo: Sarah Stier / Getty Images)