Original Coverage & Source Attribution: bleacherreport.com
The winners of the 2026 TCS New York City Marathon in the women’s and men’s fields featured a familiar face as well as a newcomer.
The women’s race was won by Sheila Chepkirui of Kenya, who was previously the winner of the event in 2024. Meanwhile, Sweden’s Andreas Almgren ended up emerging victorious in the men’s race as he made his marathon debut.
Chepkirui was able to pull away from Kenya’s Hellen Obiri across the final 150 meters. Obiri, a two-time New York City Marathon winner and the defending champion, was passed by Jessica McClain of the United States just before the finish line.
Almgren became the first Swede to win the New York City Marathon, as Italy’s Yemaneberhan Crippa finished at No. 2.
Almgren entered Saturday’s race as the reigning world champion in the half-marathon, but had never participated in a 26.2-mile course.
“I just tried to stay up at front and see what happened and see how the race developed,” Almgren said after his victory, per Doug Feinberg of the Associated Press. “I didn’t think it was going to be that quick of a finish, but I didn’t really know anything about that. One of the reasons I choose to race New York is that you don’t care about the time but just get as good a position as possible.”
He posted the third-fastest time in the 50-year history of the course, which goes through all five New York City boroughs.
American Zouhair Talbi finished at No. 6 in the men’s race, representing the fastest time by a U.S. runner in the event (h/t Feinberg).
As for Chepkirui, she explained how difficult it was to pull away from her countrymate and seal her victory.
“The last mile was really tricky,” Chepkirui said, per ESPN. “I had to be patient because I knew Hellen was really strong, so I had to really push up to the finish line.”
McClain, who edged out Obiri by one second for the No. 2 spot, became the first U.S. woman to finish in the top three since 2018.
