New York Road Runners Recruits Olympic and Paralympic Medalists to Star at 2024 TCS New York City Marathon

Olympic medalists Tamirat Tola and Hellen Obiri to defend New York titles in open division; Marcel Hug to race for record-extending seventh title in wheelchair division; Paris 2024 Olympians and Paralympians Conner Mantz, Clayton Young, Dakotah Lindwurm, Susannah Scaroni, and Daniel Romanchuk to highlight American contingent

New York, August 20, 2024 – New York Road Runners (NYRR) has announced a world-class professional athlete lineup that features 14 past champions, 27 Olympians, and 19 Paralympians for the 2024 TCS New York City Marathon, one of 60 adult and youth races produced annually by the nonprofit.

The field includes 31 athletes from the Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics who will race through the five boroughs Sunday, November 3 — the best day in New York City — including multi-time Olympic medalists and defending champions Tamirat Tola of Ethiopia and Hellen Obiri of Kenya, and six-time TCS New York City Marathon champion Marcel Hug.

Men’s Open Division
The men’s open division will be led by Tola, who last year pulled away from the field in the final six miles to finish in 2:04:58, breaking a 12-year-old course record. Tola won the Paris 2024 Olympic marathon in an Olympic-record time of 2:06:26, only two weeks after being named to the Ethiopian team as an alternate. It was his second Olympic medal, with the other coming in the 10,000 meters at the Rio 2016 Games. He also won marathon gold at the 2022 world championships and silver at the 2017 world championships.

“I’m excited to defend my title in New York, especially coming off an Olympic-record marathon performance,” said Tola. “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.”

Belgium’s two-time Olympic medalist and world championships medalist Bashir Abdi will also be one to watch; he was the silver medalist in the Paris 2024 Olympic marathon, and he won bronze medals in the marathon at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and 2022 world championships.

Challenging them will be four accomplished Kenyans in 2022 TCS New York City Marathon champion Evans Chebet, 2021 champion Albert Korir, 2019 and 2017 champion Geoffrey Kamworor, and 2024 United Airlines NYC Half champion Abel Kipchumba. In his New York debut, Chebet became the eighth man in history to win both Boston and New York in the same year, and the first since 2011. He also won Boston in 2023 and has finished first or second in 13 marathons. Kamworor, the former half marathon world-record holder, is looking to become only the third athlete to win three men’s open division titles in New York. He has made the podium in all four of his TCS New York City Marathon appearances. Korir’s lone Abbott World Marathon Majors race win came in New York three years ago. Kipchumba will be making his TCS New York City Marathon debut.

The American contingent will be headlined by Conner Mantz and Clayton Young, training partners from Provo, Utah, who finished one-two at the U.S. Olympic Marathon and eighth and ninth place, respectively, at the Paris 2024 Olympic marathon. Mantz and Young are the seventh- and eighth-fastest American marathoners in history. Elkanah Kibet, the top American in New York in 2021 and fourth at this year’s U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, and CJ Albertson, the world-record holder in the 50K who was fifth at the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials will line up as well.

Women’s Open Division
Kenya’s Obiri is a three-time Olympic medalist, seven-time world championships individual medalist, and the defending champion of both the TCS New York City Marathon and Boston Marathon. Last year, she unleashed a kick in the final 400 meters in Central Park to become the first woman in 34 years to win both Boston and New York in the same calendar year. In April, she became the first woman since 2005 to repeat as the Boston Marathon champion, and earlier this month she won bronze in the Olympic marathon in Paris.

“There’s no place like New York, and I am so ready to defend my title on what has become one of my favorite days of the year,” said Obiri. “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.”

Fellow Kenyan Sharon Lokedi will return after finishing third last year and fourth in the Olympic marathon in Paris. Lokedi won the 2022 TCS New York City Marathon in her marathon debut and was the runner-up at the 2024 Boston Marathon. Kenya’s delegation will also include New York’s 2010 champion Edna Kiplagat, four-time Olympic medalist Vivian Cheruiyot, and Sheila Chepkirui, who owns the fastest personal best in the field.

Ethiopia’s Tirunesh Dibaba will make her TCS New York City Marathon debut and is one of the world’s most accomplished long-distance runners as a three-time Olympic and 16-time world championships gold medalist. Another Ethiopian, two-time Olympian and three-time Mastercard New York Mini 10K champion Senbere Teferi, will join her.

Leading the U.S. contingent will be Dakotah Lindwurm, who was the top American finisher at the Paris Olympic marathon after taking third at the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials. She is also a two-time Grandma’s Marathon champion. She will be joined by Olympic 1,500-meter medalist and eight-time New Balance 5th Avenue Mile champion Jenny Simpson, 2018 Boston Marathon champion and two-time Olympian Des Linden, 2020 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials champion Aliphine Tuliamuk, and fourth-place 2024 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials finisher Jessica McClain.

The 2024 TCS New York City Marathon women’s professional athlete field is presented by Mastercard®.

Men’s Wheelchair Division
Leading the wheelchair division will be Switzerland’s Marcel Hug, who is a six-time Paralympic champion, 12-time world champion, and the marathon world-record holder who will race for a record-extending seventh TCS New York City Marathon title. In 2023, he swept all six Abbott World Marathon Majors races, becoming the first man to ever do so. He won the Abbott World Marathon Majors series title for the fifth time and broke course records in Tokyo, Boston, and Chicago in the process. He also won the TCS New York City Marathon in 2022, 2021, 2017, 2016, and 2013, setting the course record in 2022.

“The TCS New York City Marathon marks the brilliant end of the year’s major marathons, and the city’s energy and the enthusiasm from the spectators are unmatched, driving me to give my all,” Hug said. “On this challenging course, surrounded by strong competitors, I relish the opportunity to showcase what I’m made of and highlight the dynamism of our sport. It’s an unforgettable experience every time.”

Challenging Hug will be American Daniel Romanchuk, who in 2018 became the first American and youngest athlete ever to win the men’s wheelchair division at the TCS New York City Marathon. He also has titles from Boston, London, Chicago, and the United Airlines NYC Half to his name, as well as two Paralympic medals.

Also racing for the title will be two Dutch paratriathlon sensations—Jetze Plat, who finished third the last two years in New York and is a Paralympic champion in both cycling and triathlon, and two-time Paralympian and defending United Airlines NYC Half champion Geert Schipper.

Great Britain’s David Weir, one of the most decorated wheelchair racers in the world, won New York in 2010 and was runner-up in 2021, and will race for a podium place once again.

Women’s Wheelchair Division
Four past winners will line up at the start line of the women’s wheelchair division in Staten Island: Switzerland’s Manuela Schär, Australia’s Madison de Rozario, and the United States’ Tatyana McFadden and Susannah Scaroni.

Schär, an eight-time Paralympic medalist and 11-time world championships medalist, won the TCS New York City Marathon three times consecutively from 2017 to 2019 and has made the podium in all 11 of her appearances, including a runner-up finish last year. When de Rozario, a five-time Paralympic medalist and 10-time world championship medalist, won the TCS New York City Marathon in 2021 she became the first athlete since 2008 to win Paralympic marathon gold and New York in the same year.

As for the Americans, McFadden, a 20-time Paralympic medalist and 20-time world championship medalist, has won 24 Abbott World Marathon Majors, including five TCS New York City Marathons and was the course-record holder for seven years. Scaroni, a two-time Paralympic medalist, snatched her first TCS New York City Marathon title in 2022 in course-record fashion. She has had tremendous success at NYRR races, winning the United Airlines NYC Half twice and all five editions of the Mastercard New York Mini 10K since it added a wheelchair division.

After shocking the field to win the Boston Marathon in April, Great Britain’s 23-year-old Eden Rainbow-Cooper will look to challenge the veteran group in her second appearance in New York. She finished fourth last year.

The 2024 TCS New York City Marathon women’s professional athlete field is presented by Mastercard®.

About New York Road Runners (NYRR)
A New York City-based nonprofit, New York Road Runners’ vision is to build healthier lives and stronger communities through the transformative power of running – serving nearly a half a million New Yorkers annually through its free community events, youth running initiatives, and school-based programs across the five boroughs. During its nearly 70 years, New York Road Runners has grown from a local running club to the world’s premier community running organization, producing more than 60 adult and youth races each year, including the TCS New York City Marathon. Held the first Sunday each November, the TCS New York City Marathon features more than 50,000 runners—from the world’s best professional athletes to a vast range of runners across experience levels, ages, genders, abilities, and backgrounds. To learn more, visit www.nyrr.org.