Evans Chebet and Sharon Lokedi gave Kenya a sweep of the New York City Marathon men’s and women’s elite titles for the third consecutive time.
Chebet, who won the Boston Marathon on April 18, passed a collapsed Brazilian Daniel do Nascimento around mile 21 and later won in 2 hours, 8 minutes, 41 seconds. Ethiopian Shura Kitata was runner-up, 13 seconds behind.
“Boston was actually harder, and it prepared [me] for the win in New York,” Chebet, who became the sixth man to win Boston and New York City in the same year, said on the ESPN2 broadcast through a translator. Kenyan men won all six annual World Marathon Majors this year, the first time one nation did that since 2011 (before Tokyo was a major).
Do Nascimento took the lead from the start and crossed halfway in 1:01:22, on pace to destroy the course record of 2:05:06. He led by more than two minutes through 15 miles, then began to slow.
He took a reported 18-second portable toilet break around mile 18, then stopped and walked briefly in the 20th mile. Do Nascimento was rolling over on the ground when Chebet passed him about a mile after that. After dropping out of the race, he later posted on social media that he was OK.
Galen Rupp, a two-time Olympic medalist and headlining American in the men’s field, dropped out around mile 17 or 18, according to the broadcast.
MORE: New York City Marathon Results
Do Nascimento 2.0 🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️
— 𝑻𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒌𝒆𝒍 (@el_trinkel) November 6, 2022
Tokio primero y aquí otra vez. pic.twitter.com/ureQp40gRJ
Lokedi, the 2018 NCAA 10,000m champion for Kansas, outdueled Lonah Salpeter of Israel over the last two miles. Lokedi, 28, clocked 2:23:23 to prevail by seven seconds in her marathon debut, stunning the group of favorites that included two-time Olympic 5000m silver medalist Hellen Obiri.
“I didn’t expect to win,” Lokedi said. “I just wanted to go and put myself in it and race and just see where I’ll end up.”
When Lokedi was 14, her family fled their home village of Burnt Forest that became an area of violence after a Kenyan presidential election. For a month, the family lived with no shelter or a steady source of food before returning after the conflict ended. Lokedi started running about two miles to and from school each day.
Olympic Trials winner Aliphine Tuliamuk was the top American runner in either race in seventh place. It’s the first time the U.S. didn’t have a runner in the top six of either race since 2015.
Swiss Marcel Hug, a two-time Paralympic marathon champion, won the men’s wheelchair race in a course record 1:25:26.
American Susannah Scaroni added the women’s wheelchair title, also in a course record (1:42:43), to her victory in Chicago last month.
New York City marked the last major marathon of 2022, but there is one more anticipated 26.2-mile race. On Dec. 4, Ethiopian Letesenbet Gidey, the 5000m and 10,000m world record holder, makes her marathon debut in Valencia, Spain.
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Evans Chebet 🇰🇪 triumphs in the @nycmarathon in 2:08:41 😎
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) November 6, 2022
Chebet won the @bostonmarathon earlier this year, making him the first man to win the double in more than 🔟 years 👏
pic.twitter.com/fGwA1C1d2D
What a debut 👀@shazrinee 🇰🇪 wins the @nycmarathon in 2:23:23 👏
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) November 6, 2022
pic.twitter.com/trqCBy1h6h