Less than a month after the Chicago marathon and the astonishing world record of Kenyan Kelvin Kiptum, the attention of the running world is this time turning to New York, the last World Major of the year and, by far , the most popular.
For this edition limited to 50,000 participants, the organizers received more than 128,000 applications for the draw with non-guaranteed participation. “About 5% of them were accepted,” says Rob Simmelkjaer, the new president of New York Road Runners (NYRR). “Since the end of the Covid pandemic, we have seen unprecedented demand for our races. People around the world are more interested than ever in this event, as indicated by the 153 nationalities who applied. Our marathon has established itself as one of the most emblematic sporting events in the world.”
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Despite this ever-increasing demand, the number of participants is expected to remain the same over the coming years: “We are looking at ways to increase our offering in the future to meet demand, whether through virtual races, in-person races or other programs. Various scenarios are possible, but we are really at the limit currently, particularly in terms of security.”
This year, the focus will be on the elite race (for the rest of the participants the average time of finishers is 4 hours 50 minutes, editor’s note) in order to compete with the performances achieved in London, Berlin and Chicago. No less than 17 Olympic athletes, 11 world championship medalists and six former champions will take the start. “And for the first time, wheelchair racing will serve as the U.S. selection event for the Paralympics. The top two Americans, for men and women, will earn their place on the American team for Paris 2024.”
No French under 2h15′
The field will notably include three women posting a personal best of less than 2:18, including former world record holder Brigid Kosgei, 10,000 and half-marathon world record holder Letesensbet Gidey, Kenyan Peres Jepchirchir, champion Olympic and winner in New York in 2021, the 2023 Boston Marathon champion, Hellen Obiri, as well as Sharon Lokedi, who won last year in New York.
Marie-Ange Brumelot will be the main Frenchwoman to follow. After achieving 2h 33’26” in Berlin and 2h 33’19” in April in Rotterdam, the 31-year-old athlete from New York State will try to confirm her form.
On the men’s side, five athletes who have already run under 2:06 will be present, including Evans Chebet, victorious last year and double winner of the Boston marathon. His main opponent should be Geoffrey Kamworor, three times half-marathon world champion, twice winner in New York (2017 and 2019) and second in the last London marathon.
Maru Teferi, silver medalist in the marathon of the 2023 World Athletics Championships, Albert Korir, Tamirat Tola (record at 2:03:39), Shura Kitata, Abdi Nageeye, Mosinet Geremew, Zouahir Talbi, Hendrik Pfeiffer or again Cam Levins will be among the contenders for the podium.
No Frenchman under 2h15′ has yet been officially announced. Among those involved will still be the founder of the “Run Motion Coach” application, Guillaume Adam, 33 years old. Author of a time of 2h 23’13” this year in Paris, he will aim for 2h 21′ in New York.
Note that the American contingent will not include its best representatives either. The main distance specialists are in fact reserving themselves for the Olympic selection event for Paris 2024, scheduled to be held on February 3 in Orlando (Florida).
2023-10-30 03:30:16
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