Kenya's Hellen Obiri Wins New York City Marathon
Obiri pulled away from Ethiopia's Letesenbet Gidey in the final 400 metres to cross the finish line at a time of 2:27:23.
Marvin Chege 
Kenyan athlete and Boston Marathon champion, Hellen Obiri, has won the 2023 New York City marathon.
Obiri pulled away from Ethiopia's Letesenbet Gidey in the final 400 metres of the pro-women's open division race to cross the finish line at a time of 2:27:23.
Gidey followed in second at a time of 2:27:29 ahead of another Kenyan athlete, Sharon Lokedi, who came third at a time of 2:27:33.
The win is Obiri's second victory of the year following her victory during the Boston Marathon, which is considered the world's oldest annual marathon, with a time of 2:21:38.
Here is the video:
Hellen Obiri of Kenya wins the women's open-division of the 2023 #TCSNYCMarathon at 2:27:23. pic.twitter.com/A9Jw5JSYE7 — TCS New York City Marathon (@nycmarathon) November 5, 2023
Prior to the New York Marathon, Obiri expressed confidence in conquering the tough marathon course following her disappointing full marathon debut in the same race last year.
Obiri noted that she had learnt from her mistakes, which saw her finish a disappointing sixth after timing 2:25:49.
“In a debut, anything can happen and sometimes you go and learn how to do it. For me, from the word go, I think I felt like there was no need to take water. I didn’t know it was going to cost me towards the end of the race,” she was quoted by Capital FM.
The two-time World 5000m champion added that she would recreate the running strategy that she used to power her to victory in the Boston Marathon.
“For Boston, we said we have like four weeks so we said we were going to practise a lot…taking water and setting tables along my way. Like when I did long runs, they were setting tables from where I could pick the water bottles while running. I took like five good drinks so when I went to Boston, that (constant rehydrating) was on my mind,” Obiri explained.
Having enjoyed success on the track, the two-time Olympics 5000m silver medalist opened up on her chances of more glory in the road races, revealing that her coach has been a source of inspiration to propel her to transcend the boundaries of that which is normal in the women’s marathon.
“I do…and I can (run 2:11 on a flat course) because you know a coach is the one who understands the athlete better. He always tells me that I am in good shape and I can run 2:11…but not now, maybe in two or three years. I do believe I can,” the New York City Half Marathon champion stated.
The race kicked off on Sunday at Staten Island and attracted 55,000 athletes who competed in all categories. The marathon covered 26.2 miles (42 kilometres) and cut through all five boroughs within the Big Apple.
The professional women’s division kicked off at exactly 8:40 a.m. (New York Time) with the race ending at Central Park.
State House Chief of Staff and Head of the Public Service, Felix Koskei, led Kenyans in congratulating Obiri by stating "Congratulations to Hellen Obiri for winning the 2023 New York Marathon in a sprint finish!"
In the men's race, Kenya missed out on a gold medal opportunity with Albert Korir beaten to the top by Tamirat Tola of Ethiopia.
"The men's open-division winner is Tamirat Tola of Ethiopia, in a course-record time of 2:04:58," stated the Marathon's X (formerly Twitter) page.
Tola overcame Korir, who finished second at a time of 2:06:57, defeating Ethiopia's Shura Kitata who finished third at a time of 2:07:11.
