Sweden’s Andreas Almgren won the men’s race at the 2026 New York City Marathon in 2:06:01 on his marathon debut on Sunday, November 1, while Kenya’s Sheila Chepkirui reclaimed the women’s title in 2:24:36 at the Central Park finish of the five-borough race.
Almgren’s win matters because no Swede had won the race before, and NBC Sports reported that he became the first Swedish runner to win any major marathon. He was also the first debut winner in New York since Ethiopia’s Gebregziabher Gebremariam in 2010, according to USA Today, while Chepkirui’s victory gave her a second New York title in three years.
Almgren, the world half-marathon champion, stayed with a crowded lead pack through 35 kilometres before pulling away, according to Marathon Handbook’s race report. He crossed the line 13 seconds ahead of Italy’s Yemaneberhan Crippa, who finished second in 2:06:14, while Lesotho’s Kamohelo Mofolo took third in 2:06:26 on his 21st birthday.
Defending champion Benson Kipruto of Kenya finished fourth in 2:06:27, one second behind Mofolo, after Almgren pulled away from him with about a mile left, Reuters reported. Kipruto had won the 2025 race in the closest men’s finish in the event’s history, edging Alexander Mutiso by 0.16 seconds, according to USA Today.
Almgren, who won the world half-marathon title in Copenhagen in September in a European record of 58:06 and took bronze over 10,000 metres at the 2025 World Championships, took home $100,000 for the victory, USA Today reported. His win also made him the first European-born man to win in New York since Italy’s Giacomo Leone in 1996, according to LetsRun’s pre-race preview.
McClain’s late sprint ends the American podium drought
Chepkirui, 35, had won the race in 2024, and she took it back on Sunday after breaking away from the lead pack with defending champion Hellen Obiri with about four miles to go, Reuters reported. Obiri, who had broken the course record last year, stayed on Chepkirui’s heels for much of the final stretch, but the American Jess McClain surged past her in the final strides.
McClain, of Scottsdale, Arizona, finished second in 2:24:42, one second ahead of Obiri in 2:24:43, ending a long wait for an American on the podium. NBC Sports reported that McClain’s second place was the first podium finish for an American man or woman in New York since Shalane Flanagan was third in her title defence in 2018.
McClain was fourth at the 2024 Olympic Trials in both the marathon and the 10,000 metres, and she was the top American at the Boston Marathon in both 2025 and 2026, according to NBC Sports. At 36, she is a contender to make her first Olympics at the March 2028 marathon trials in St. Louis, the broadcaster reported.
Kenya’s Edna Kiplagat, the 2010 New York champion, finished fourth at age 46 in 2:25:42, while Mercy Chelangat of Kenya was fifth in 2:25:46, according to NBC Sports’ results. The top American man was Zouhair Talbi, sixth in 2:06:43, a time USA Today described as the fastest ever by an American man at the New York race.
Two leading women missed the race after withdrawing three weeks beforehand: Olympic gold medallist Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands pulled out through sickness, and 2024 United States Olympic Trials champion Fiona O’Keeffe withdrew for left hamstring surgery, NBC Sports reported.
Swiss sweep in the wheelchair races
Switzerland swept the wheelchair races. Marcel Hug won the men’s wheelchair race in 1:28:14 for his eighth New York title, one second ahead of American Daniel Romanchuk, while Catherine Debrunner won the women’s wheelchair race in 1:40:02 for her second title, 8 minutes 25 seconds ahead of American Tatyana McFadden, according to NBC Sports.
American Susannah Scaroni, who had won in 2022, 2024 and 2025, was third in her first race since giving birth to her son Jonah on August 6, NBC Sports reported.
New York was the last World Marathon Major of 2026, although the Valencia Marathon in Spain on December 6 traditionally produces fast times, according to NBC Sports. NBC Sports noted that its published results were unofficial, so small timing details could still be adjusted in the official results.
What is confirmed is the shape of the day: a debut winner from Sweden, a reclaimed title for Chepkirui, and an American back on the podium for the first time in eight years, on a course that began on Staten Island, crossed the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge and ran through all five boroughs before finishing in Central Park.
