Eliud Kipchoge and Sifan Hassan will make their New York City Marathon debuts on Nov. 2 after each raced the Sydney Marathon on Aug. 31.
Kipchoge, a 40-year-old Kenyan, is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and the second-fastest marathoner in history (2:01:09 from Berlin 2022).
His last marathon victory was Berlin 2023. Since, he was 10th at the 2024 Tokyo Marathon, did not finish the Paris Olympic marathon and was sixth and ninth in London and Sydney this year.
This will be the first year in his marathon career that he races the 26.2-mile distance three times in one year.
Kipchoge has won four of the six long-standing annual World Marathon Majors — Berlin, Chicago, London and Tokyo — missing just Boston (where he finished sixth in 2023) and New York City.
“The thought of running in New York has always lived in my heart,” Kipchoge said in a press release. “I am looking forward to experiencing it all, to hearing the crowds, to meeting the people there, and leaving a long-lasting footprint in the running community.”
The New York City men’s field also includes defending champion Abdi Nageeye of the Netherlands.
Hassan, the 2024 Olympic marathon gold medalist and third-fastest female marathoner in history (2:13:44 from Chicago 2023), is coming off a win in Sydney.
“They say it’s the biggest race in the world,” Hassan said in a press release of New York City.
In Paris, Hassan became the first person to run the 5000m (bronze medal), 10,000m (bronze medal) and marathon (gold) at one Olympics in 40 years. She became the second person ever to win a medal in the three longest races at one Olympics after Czech Emil Zátopek, who won all three in 1952.
The New York City women’s field also includes the last three race winners -- Sharon Lokedi (2022), Hellen Obiri (2023) and Sheila Chepkirui (2024), all from Kenya.
