On Sunday, almost 60,000 runners will take to the beginning line of the world’s largest marathon, racing via New York Metropolis’s 5 boroughs. From feel-good tales to movie star appearances to stacked elite fields, the TCS New York Metropolis Marathon at all times brings all of it. Right here’s a take a look at the important thing storylines and comply with the motion on race day.
Will Sifan Hassan win her fourth main?
Since Dutch distance star Sifan Hassan moved as much as the marathon in 2023, she has dominated, profitable 4 of her six races, together with Olympic gold. Final 12 months in Paris, Hassan redefined what was humanly attainable, medalling in two Olympic observe occasions earlier than outkicking former world document holder Tigst Assefa of Ethiopia for marathon gold within the closing 200 metres.
Hassan adopted that up with a third-place end on the 2025 London Marathon and a victory on the TCS Sydney Marathon (in its inaugural 12 months as an Abbott World Marathon Main) six weeks in the past.
Regardless of by no means having raced in New York and dealing with three former champions,(Sharon Lokedi, Hellen Obiri and Sheila Chepkirui), Hassan stays the favorite. The race’s rolling, difficult course fits her racing fashion, just like each her Olympic win in Paris and, most lately, Sydney. Despite the fact that she ran a marathon, brief relaxation just isn’t new territory for Hassan. She gained Chicago in 2023, solely weeks after competing in three occasions on the World Championships in Budapest, and he or she gained Olympic marathon gold on an excellent tighter turnaround final 12 months (medalling within the 5,000m and 10,000m on the observe).
If Hassan wins on Sunday, she would change into the primary girl ever to win at 4 completely different Abbott World Marathon Majors.
Obiri and Lokedi can be seeking to reclaim the highest spot after shedding to compatriot Chepkirui final 12 months. Obiri has completed on the rostrum in her final three marathons, however hasn’t damaged the tape since finishing her Boston–New York–Boston sweep in 2023-2024.
The final hurrah between greats
For long-time athletics followers, Sunday may very well be a bittersweet second, with probably the ultimate aggressive showdown between two of the best distance runners in historical past: Eliud Kipchoge and Kenenisa Bekele.
Between them, they personal 5 Olympic gold medals, six world titles, 13 Abbott World Marathon Main victories and three of the 5 quickest marathon instances ever recorded. The 2 have confronted off 5 instances over the marathon distance, with Kipchoge holding a 4–1 document. Bekele’s lone win over Kipchoge got here most lately on the 2024 Paris Olympics, the place he completed thirty ninth in 2:12:24, whereas Kipchoge dropped out with a hip subject.
Their rivalry stretches again a lot additional. They first raced twenty years in the past on the 2003 Bislett Video games in Oslo, the place a 21-year-old Bekele held off an 18-year-old Kipchoge by three-tenths of a second to win the boys’s 5,000m in 12:52.26. Later that summer time, on the 2003 World Championships in Paris, Kipchoge received redemption, profitable gold within the 5,000m forward of Morocco’s Hicham El Guerrouj and Bekele, who took bronze.
Extra lately, Bekele has proven flashes of his outdated brilliance, working 2:04:15 on the 2024 London Marathon to set a males’s masters 40+ world document and show he can nonetheless combine it up with the very best.
In a pre-race interview with Olympics.com, Kipchoge hinted that New York can be his closing main, marking the completion of his seven-star medal quest. When he crosses the end line in Central Park, he’ll change into the primary man to win an Olympic marathon and full all seven Abbott World Marathon Majors.
For the 43-year-old Bekele, the top could also be close to. If it have been as much as him, he’d run ceaselessly.
Final 12 months, Abdi Nageeye grew to become the primary European males’s winner of the New York Metropolis Marathon in 28 years, and he’ll be again to defend his title on Sunday. If Nageeye repeats and Hassan wins on the ladies’s facet, Dutch flags may very well be flying throughout Central Park. It will additionally mark the primary time in historical past that each NYC champions are from the identical European nation.
Learn how to watch
The 2025 TCS New York Metropolis Marathon can be aired in Canada on TSN3, with protection starting at 8:00 a.m. ET Sunday. You may also stream the occasion dwell on-line by way of the TSN app or by way of TSN.ca/dwell.
All of the motion for the 2025 TCS New York Metropolis Marathon can be dropped at you by Canadian Working and New Stability. Observe us on X or Instagram for in-depth dwell protection, tweeting and up-to-date unique information and content material.
