Sweden’s Andreas Almgren captured the men’s title at the New York City Marathon on Sunday, completing the race in 2 hours, 6 minutes, and 1 second during his marathon debut. Almgren surged ahead in the final mile, distancing himself from Italy’s Yemaneberhan Crippa and Kenya’s Benson Kipruto, the defending champion from 2023. Crippa finished second, while Kamohelo Motolo of Lesotho secured third place, narrowly edging out Kipruto.

Almgren, who has previously found success in shorter distance races including a half-marathon victory earlier this year, described his performance as an unexpectedly positive experience. “When Benson started picking up the pace with 5K left, I just felt like, I’ve got the legs today,” Almgren said after the race. He pulled away from Crippa as he entered the final stretch in Central Park and reflected on the significance of the moment, noting it is rare to lead in the closing meters of such a prestigious event.

In the women’s competition, Kenyan runner Sheila Chepkirui reclaimed the title with a finishing time of 2:24:36. She held off a late challenge from fellow Kenyan Hellen Obiri, the winner in 2022 and 2023. Chepkirui said the closing stages were difficult and required patience to fend off Obiri’s strong finish. The United States’ Jessica McClain finished second, overtaking Obiri near the finish line, with Obiri placing third.

“It was a really fun, magical day out there,” McClain commented. She added that although she struggled physically through much of the race, her goal remained to place in the top five before pushing for the podium in the final stretch.

In wheelchair racing, Switzerland’s Marcel Hug continued his dominance, winning the men’s division for the eighth time with a time of 1:28:14, narrowly defeating American Daniel Romanchuk by one second. Catherine Debrunner, also from Switzerland, won the women’s wheelchair race in 1:40:02, breaking her own course record by 30 seconds in a repeat victory.

This year marked the 50th time the New York City Marathon route passed through the city’s five boroughs, maintaining the event’s status as one of the world’s most prominent road races.