NEW YORK: Peres Jepchirchir and Albert Korir led a Kenyan sweep of the open division titles -- the sixth in event history -- while Australia's Madison de Rozario and Switzerland's Marcel Hug won the wheelchair division titles at the 2021 New York City Marathon on Sunday.
In the event's 50th running, Jepchirchir became the only Olympic gold medalist in the marathon to also win the New York City Marathon in her career, finishing in 2:22:39, the third-fastest time in event history and eight seconds off the course record.
"It was a great honor to be the winner of the New York City Marathon and the only champion from the Olympics to win the New York City Marathon," Jepchirchir said in a release. "It was a great opportunity for me, and it was my plan. Preparation was short, but I tried my best to see if I can fix on my own preparation. When I went in today, my goal was to win the race."
The top three women in the open division finished within 13 seconds of each other. Kenya's Viola Cheptoo, the younger sister of five-time Olympian Bernard Lagat, was only five seconds back, taking second in her marathon debut in 2:22:44. Ethiopia's Ababel Yeshaneh was third in her first run on the five-borough course in 2:22:52.
Korir took the tape in the men's open division in 2:08:22, going one better and 14 seconds faster than his runner-up performance in 2019 to win his first Abbott World Marathon Majors race. He was joined on the podium by Mohamed El Aaraby of Morocco, who was second in 2:09:06, and Eyob Faniel of Italy, who was third in 2:09:52.