New York Marathon 2024: Tola and Obiri want to defend their titles

NEW YORK (AP) — Defending New York City Marathon champions Tamirat Tola and Hellen Obiri are looking to become the first repeat winners in nearly a decade.

“It wasn’t easy to win New York; I know that every athlete who comes here is confident,” said Tola, who set the course record last year. “I’m also competing to win, so I know I’m up for the task.”

If Tola wins on Sunday, the 33-year-old from Ethiopia will become the first man to repeat as champion in New York since Geoffrey Mutai of Kenya won in 2011 and 2013. The 2012 race was canceled due to Superstorm Sandy.

Tola has even more history at stake: He aims to join a select group by becoming only the second runner to win both Olympic gold and the New York Marathon in the same year, matching the feat achieved by Kenya’s Peres Jepchirchir has achieved in 2021.

Jepchirchir is the first runner to win the Olympic marathon, the New York Marathon and the Boston Marathon in his career.

Tola records a victory at the Paris Games, where he set an Olympic record in the marathon. He said the racecourses of Paris and New York were similar because of the hills.

To defend his title on his favorite course, he will have to beat a formidable field that includes former winners Geoffrey Kamworor (2017, 2019), Albert Korir (2021) and Evans Chebet (2022), all from Kenya.

Bashir Abdi from Belgium won the silver medal in Paris and is also participating in the race. Conner Mantz and Clayton Young, who finished eighth and ninth in Paris, are among the American top men.

Obiri, a 34-year-old from Kenya who won the bronze medal at the Paris Olympics, is trying to become the first woman to win consecutive races since Mary Keitany of Kenya won three in a row between 2014 and 2016.

“Winning back to back is what I’m looking forward to,” Obiri said.

To achieve that feat, she will have to beat her own loaded field. Other former champions in Sunday’s women’s race include Sharon Lokedi (2022) and Edna Kiplagat (2010), both from Kenya. American stars Dakotah Popehn and Jenny Simpson are also participating.

“I’m going to keep calling this my encore tour,” said Popehn, who got married last weekend. “When I’m having fun, I race best anyway. My goals are to become the best American and retain that Olympic Games title. I think I can finish in the top five of the overall rankings.”

Swiss stars Marcel Hug and Manuela Schär, who have won nine New York City marathons, will headline the wheelchair fields. Hug has won every race he started this year, including the Paralympic Games in Paris.

The NYC Marathon has been held since 1970 and more than 50,000 runners finished last year. The race is organized by the nonprofit New York Road Runners. Runners can participate in the marathon in several ways, including a qualifying time, a raffle or charitable contributions.

For the first time, the organization added a ‘Team for Climate’ that allowed runners to donate $3,000 in carbon credits to gain entry to the race. Although it has been warm in New York all week, with temperatures in the 70s and 80s Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celsius), it should cool down to the 50s on race day.

New York Road Runners sought to improve the experience for runners after the 26.2-mile race, working with the city and arts organizations to negotiate deals for some museum admissions and tickets to Broadway shows.

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