Boston Marathon 2024: Kenya’s Hellen Obiri claims second consecutive title; Ethiopia’s Sisay Lemma dominates men’s race
Kenya’s Hellen Obiri and Ethiopia’s Sisay Lemma produced stunning runs to win the women’s and men’s races of the 2024 Boston Marathon on Monday 15 April.
Obiri crossed the line in two hours, 22 minutes and 37 seconds to claim her second consecutive win in the capital of Massachusetts after her maiden marathon victory in the same city last year. Her fellow Kenyan Sharon Lokedi came in second, eight seconds behind.
Obiri has now won three of the four 42.195km races she has entered and will be among the strong favourites should she compete at Paris 2024.
While the 34-year-old, who has two Olympic 5,000m silver medals to her name, has made her transition from track to roads look effortless, this was anything but an easy race. She was matched stride-for-stride by Lokedi until the 40km mark when she finally managed to break away. Lokedi ended the race in 2:22:45 with two-time Boston winner (2017, 2021) Edna Kiplagat third in 2:23:21 as Kenyan runners swept the podium.
“I knew that Sharon was very strong so I tried my best at the end,” Obiri said in a post-race interview. “I tried to push, but she was still close behind me. To win here makes me so very happy.
“When I won here last year, I was not that familiar with the marathon. This year my training was perfect and I trusted everything we were doing."
In the men’s race, Lemma wasted no time in asserting his dominance over the field, breaking from the pack after only 20 minutes and maintaining his lead for the remainder of the race, despite the challenges of Boston's notoriously difficult course and the prospect of running alone for the majority of the 42.195km.
The 2023 Valencia Marathon winner and fourth-fastest male marathoner in history was at one point on track to break the Boston course record,- and even challenge the world record time of the late Kenyan Kelvin Kiptum.
But despite slowing significantly over the second half of the run, Lemma never looked likely to relinquish his lead and crossed the line first in 2:06:17. He has now firmly established himself as one of the finest men's marathon racers in the world.
Lemma's compatriot Mohamed Esa finished second in 2:06:58 with Kenya's Evans Chebet third in 2:07:22.
Sisay Lemma on statement victory: “I wanted redemption”
Lemma’s win came at the third time of asking in Boston and followed last year’s race where he failed to even finish. However, his willingness to take the 2024 race into his own hands showed how much he wanted to make up for his past failures as he claimed a first marathon victory since his win in London in 2021.
“I previously didn’t finish in this race, so I wanted redemption for that, that’s why I came,” he said in an interview after the race.
“Thankfully I was able to redeem myself, so I’m happy. My plan was to break the course record, but the hills at the end made me really tired.”
As well as making a strong statement that he is in exceptional race shape, the Ethiopian has another reason for wanting to show the world the strength of his form in 2024.
“I raced in Boston is because the course is similar to the Olympic one, so hopefully this will be good preparation for the Paris Games,” he said, referencing the hilly Paris 2024 marathon route that has a maximum gradient of 13.5 per cent.
For Obiri, the next Olympics were also at the forefront of her mind as she hoped to impress the Kenyan selectors with just over 100 days until the Games.
“Winning is something very precious to me,” she said. “After winning here, I really hope I’ll be chosen to compete at the Olympics.”
- As National Olympic Committees have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective countries at the Olympic Games, athletes' participation at the Paris Games depends on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation at Paris 2024.
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