Abdi Nageeye from the Netherlands took the biggest victory of his marathon career in the TCS New York Marathon on Sunday (3).
Just under three months after recording a DNF in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, a jubilant Nageeye broke the finish-line tape in Central Park in 2:07:39 to become the first European winner of the men’s race since 1996.
Nageeye, who also won the Rotterdam Marathon on home soil this April in a national record of 2:04:45, recorded a second half split of 62:04 to burn down a field replete with past winners in New York.
Past winners Evans Chebet and Albert Korir were second (2:07:45) and third (2:08:00) respectively with Olympic champion Tamirat Tola from Ethiopia, who made easy work of the hills last year to win in a course record of 2:04:58, a distant fourth in 2:08:12.
"I saw all the winners from previous years but I thought: I don't care, I belong with them, I am one of them. My race is until 36 kilometres. If I was still there, I would know: this is my race.
"I still have some way to go to be at the top level, this is not the end but the beginning of a few good years to come," said Nageeye as quoted by NOS.
Switzerland’s Fabienne Schlumpf was an excellent fifth in the women’s race in 2:26:31.