Obiri claims Majors series crown

Hellen Obiri and Benson Kipruto were crowned Abbott World Marathon Majors Series XVI champions following the end to the season at the TCS New York City Marathon.

Obiri sealed the series thanks to a race director vote after finishing second in New York to add to her victory in Boston in April.

She also earned bronze in the Paris Olympic marathon in August. Since that third place was her lowest score in the Majors points system, it was replaced by her second place in New York to tie her at the top of the leaderboard with Ethiopia’s Sutume Asefa Kebede.

Kebede ran a course record in Tokyo for her maiden Majors win and followed it with second place in Chicago behind Ruth Chepng’etich’s astonishing world record.

Obiri and Kebede had no head-to-head performance to separate them, therefore it came down to the six race directors of the Abbott World Marathon Majors to decide the champion.

Obiri, who lost out in the same circumstances in 2023 to Sifan Hassan, was chosen by all six.

Her last two years have seen her claim two Boston crowns, a win and a second place in New York and that Olympic bronze medal.
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Obiri’s compatriot Kipruto enjoyed a stunning start to the year with a course record in Tokyo, and added Olympic bronze in August to establish his lead at the top of the table before the fall season of racing.

With one race remaining, Ethiopia’s Tamirat Tola and Kenya’s Evans Chebet still had the chance to catch Kipruto, but Tola’s fourth place finish left him short of the 33-year-old’s total.

In the wheelchair series, Switzerland repeated its double success of 2023 with Marcel Hug and Catherine Debrunner sweeping the titles again.

Hug put together a run of wins from Boston in April through to Chicago in October. His fourth-place finish in New York was the only race in the series he started and did not win.

Debrunner reeled off wins in London, Paris, Berlin and Chicago to catch long-time leader Manuela Schär.

Since the wheelchair series began in 2016, there has never been a year when a Swiss athlete has not won at least one of the titles.

How it works

Points per race
1st 25
2nd 16
3rd 9
4th 4
5th 1‍

• The Wheelchair series also offers 8 bonus points for the fastest athlete through a designated 400m section of the course. The maximum number of bonus points an athlete can earn in one series is 24.
• Athletes must race in a minimum of two events to be eligible for prize money. Their best two scores count towards their final title
• Wheelchair athletes’ best four scores count towards their total score, or best five scores in a Paralympic or World Championship year when that race is held outside a Major.
• Series XVII will kick off with the 2025 Tokyo Marathon on March 1, and will be the first series to feature the TCS Sydney Marathon presented by ASICS, which was inducted into the Abbott World Marathon Majors after two successful assessments in 2023 and 2024.