Sheila Chepkirui took the tape Sunday morning in the women’s New York City Marathon, and she did it in the most stunning of fashions: outkicking Hellen Obiri and slamming the door on Obiri’s legendary past two years.
Chepkirui finished with a time of 2:24:35, a fulfillment of the promise she has flashed for years.
“It was really hard, I pushed myself to the limit and I’m so happy,” she said after the race.
Chepkirui entered Sunday with an impressive 2:17:29 personal best, but was a darkhorse on the famed course featuring back-to-back Boston Marathon winner Obiri, Sharon Lokedi and Vivian Cheruiyot.
But Chepkirui proved to be the unbreakable pest in Obiri’s mission to go back-to-back.
After the 2022 and 2023 New York City Marathons were won with thrilling last-minute sprints, Sunday’s race appeared to be a display of dominance for Obiri in the final five miles, using multiple surges and matching multiple others to whittle down the lead pack from six to four to three to two.
But in the last mile, the 33-year-old Chepkirui was not only still by her side, but taking control. While it appeared Obiri was letting her Kenyan compatriot set the pace, Chepkirui took that pace and slammed her foot on the gas, sprinting away from Obiri to win her first major marathon and announce her arrival to the world that Chepkirui is on the elite scene to stay.
This story will be updated.
(Photo: Sarah Stier / Getty Images)
