In one of the most gripping duels down Boylston Street in Boston Marathon history, Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya fought off a breathtaking surge by Ababel Yeshaneh of Ethiopia to claim the women's open race, while Kenya's Evans Chebet avenged a 2018 DNF to finish in front of the men's open race.
The wheelchair divisions were won by American Daniel Romanchuk in 1:26:58 and Manuela Schar of Switzerland in 1:41:08. It was the third victory here for Romanchuk and the fourth for Schar.
The victory saw Jepchirchir earning the olive wreath in her debut here, becoming the first athlete to win an Olympic marathon gold medal, the New York City Marathon and now Boston.
The race was the sixth-closest finish in women's race history, as Jepchirchir (2:21:01) defeated Ababel Yeshaneh (ETH) by four seconds (2:21:05) followed by Mary Ngugi (KEN) in 2:21:32.
Jepchirchir is just the fifth Olympic Marathon champion to win Boston.
The men's race played out very differently, with a pack of 15 still together on Heartbreak Hill. It wasn't until mile 21 that Evans Chebet, determined to make up for the DNF in his only previous appearance here four years ago, surged ahead.
Although Gabriel Geay of Tanzania briefly went with him, it would be past Boston champions Lawrence Cherono (2019) and Benson Kipruto (2021) looming in the distance who posed the most-credible threat.
But Chebet never looked back, breaking the tape in 2:06:51. Cherono followed in 2:07:21, with Kipruto third in 2:07:27. The top American, Scott Fauble, was seventh in 2:08:52, a personal best.
( With inputs from ANI )
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