Kenyans sweep Boston Marathon titles with thrilling women’s finish

Kenyans Peres Jepchirchir and Evans Chebet won the Boston Marathon women’s and men’s titles as the world’s oldest annual marathon returned to Patriots’ Day for the first time since 2019.

Jepchirchir prevailed in Boston in 2 hours, 21 minutes, 2 seconds, outdueling Ethiopian Ababel Yeshaneh over the final miles. Yeshaneh, who exchanged the lead with Jepchirchir multiple times in the last mile, crossed four seconds back.

“When you see the end, and when you see the tape for the finish, that’s where the strength comes,” Jepchirchir, who won on the 50th anniversary of the first official Boston Marathon women’s race, said on USA Network.

Kenyan Mary Ngugi was third. The top American was Nell Rojas in 10th. Olympic bronze medalist Molly Seidel dropped out before reaching 20 miles.

BOSTON MARATHON: Results | More on thrilling women’s finish

Jepchirchir consolidated her status as the world’s top female marathoner after winning the Olympics and New York City last year. Already the only person to win the Olympic and New York City Marathons, she has now won three of the most prestigious marathons in a span of eight months.

Jepchirchir ran track growing up in western Kenya in a family of farmers who grew tea and maize. She ran two to three miles to and from school each day.

She won the world half marathon championship in 2016, then had daughter Natalia in October 2017 and came back to earn her first marathon victory in December 2019. She was originally left off the Kenyan Olympic team in January 2020, then won the December 2020 Valencia Marathon in the world’s best time for the year (2:17:16), beginning what is now a four-marathon win streak.

Chebet clocked 2:06:51 for his first major marathon victory, leading the first Kenyan men’s