Ethiopia’s Sisay Lemma clinched his first Boston Marathon title on Monday, crossing the finish line with a time of 2:06:17 in the men’s race.
Meanwhile, Hellen Obiri of Kenya successfully defended her 2023 title in the women’s race.
Lemma, who recently achieved the fourth-fastest time in history with a 2:01:48 finish in the Valencia Marathon last month, took an early lead and maintained it throughout the race. Despite the chasing pack closing in, the 33-year-old held on for victory, marking his second major marathon win after triumphing in the 2021 London Marathon.
The outcome solidifies Lemma as one of the frontrunners for the gold medal at the upcoming Paris Olympics.
Lemma secured victory with a commanding lead of 41 seconds ahead of Mohamed Esa in second place, and a further one minute and five seconds ahead of double-defending champion Evans Chebet in third.
The top-performing American male runner was CJ Albertson, finishing in seventh place with an unofficial time of 2:09:53.
In the women’s race, the excitement peaked with a thrilling showdown between reigning champion Obiri and former New York City Marathon winner Sharon Lokedi. The two athletes battled neck-and-neck in the final miles, but Obiri managed to pull ahead, retaining her title by a narrow margin of eight seconds, crossing the finish line with a time of 2:22:37.
Obiri, 34, is the first woman to win back-to-back Boston Marathons since Catherine Ndereba accomplished the feat in 2004 and 2005. She also won the New York Marathon in November last year.
The top performing US women’s runner was Emma Bates who finished with an unofficial time of 2:27:14.
Earlier in the day, Britain’s Eden Rainbow-Cooper secured her first major marathon victory with a time of 1:35:11, finishing 90 seconds ahead of Switzerland’s Manuela Schär to win the women’s wheelchair event.
In a historic moment, the 22-year-old British athlete became the first British woman to triumph in the Boston Marathon’s wheelchair race, marking the first British victory in any of the event’s elite races since Geoff Smith's win in the elite men’s race in 1985.
Reflecting on her achievement, Rainbow-Cooper expressed the immense mental and physical challenge of the race: "It really took everything to get that win. Pushing a marathon on your own is so difficult. I only started [the marathon] two years ago, and I have put absolutely everything into it, and I really can’t believe this."
She further credited the unwavering support of the crowd: "I just had my head down for the whole race and was just focusing on my own race. I had absolutely nothing left at the end, but the crowd carried me through."
Meanwhile, in the men’s wheelchair event, Switzerland’s Marcel Hug clinched victory for the seventh time, overcoming a mid-race crash to finish with a time of 1:15:33. Known as ‘the Silver Bullet,’ Hug broke his own course record en route to victory, showcasing his enduring dominance in major world marathons.
