The 2024 TCS New York City Marathon will showcase a very elite field, with 14 former champions and 27 Olympians taking part. The event, taking place on Sunday, Nov. 3, will see the return of defending champions Tamirat Tola of Ethiopia (who is also the newly-crowned Olympic champion and Olympic record holder from Paris 2024) and Hellen Obiri of Kenya (the Paris 2024 marathon bronze medallist) who are sure to spare no effort in defending their respective titles.
Women’s field
In the women’s event, the 42.2K race through New York‘s renowned five boroughs will feature Obiri, who has three Olympic and seven World Championship medals in her back pocket, along with her 2023 and 2024 Boston Marathon titles.
“There’s no place like New York, and I am so ready to defend my title on what has become one of my favourite days of the year,” Obiri told media. “I have been racing very well on the roads in the U.S., and I hope I can have another good day that sees me in contention once we enter the final stages in Central Park.”
Three-time Olympic champion and 16-time world champion Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia will make her NYC Marathon debut; it’s been some time since we’ve seen the “baby-faced destroyer” race, since she has been busy raising her family and tending to her business interests back home; she has not raced a marathon since 2018.
Sharon Lokedi of Kenya (2022 NYC Marathon champion) will be looking to upgrade her 2023 third-place finish in New York; she finished just off the podium at Paris 2024. The field from Kenya will also star Sheila Chepkirui, who holds a very quick 2:17:29 to her name, and four-time Olympic medallist Vivian Cheruiyot.
Dakotah Lindwurm, the top American finisher at Paris 2024 with an impressive 12th-place finish, will also be in the mix. She’ll be joined by two-time Olympian and 2018 Boston Marathon champion Des Linden, as well as eight-time New Balance Fifth Avenue Mile champion and 1,500m Olympic medallist Jenny Simpson.
Men’s field
At the 2023 NYC Marathon, Tola crossed the line in a new course record, clocking 2:04:58. In Paris, he upset one of the deepest Olympic marathon fields in history to win with a new Olympic record of 2:06:26, an incredible feat on such a hilly course. The 33-year-old also won the world championship marathon at Eugene, Ore., in 2022.
“I’m excited to defend my title in New York, especially coming off an Olympic-record marathon performance,” Tola told the press. “The hilly course and crowds in Paris definitely prepared me well for the bridges and spectators in New York, where maybe I can go even faster this year.”
Bashir Abdi of Belgium will certainly give Tola a run for his money. Abdi took silver behind Tola at Paris 2024, and holds bronze medals in the event from Tokyo 2020 and the 2022 World Championships.
Evans Chebet of Kenya, winner of the 2022 NYC Marathon and 2022 and 2023 Boston Marathons, will be fighting to return to the top spot in New York.
Kenya’s Albert Korir (2021 NYC Marathon champion), Geoffrey Kamworor (2017 and 2019 champion) and Abel Kipchumba (2024 United Airlines NYC Half champion) are also strong contenders. Kamworor, who once held the half-marathon world record, has made the podium each of the four times he took part in the NYC Marathon. Kipchumba will be making his NYC Marathon debut.
