Galen Rupp to make his New York City Marathon debut this year in November

Five-time U.S. Olympian Abdi Abdirahman to race final career marathon; U.S. Olympian Shadrack Kipchirchir to make marathon debut

Press release excerpts from NYC marathon with additional analysis by LetsRun.com

August 10, 2022 – Defending men’s champion Albert Korir of Kenya will defend his TCS New York City Marathon crown on November 6th and will battle 13 Olympians including American Galen Rupp, who will make his NY City Marathon debut.

Korir will return as the defending TCS New York City Marathon champion after taking the tape last year in 2:08:22 to finish one spot better and 14 seconds faster than his runner-up performance in 2019. It marked his first Abbott World Marathon Majors race victory; previously he had won the Houston, Ottawa, and Vienna City Marathons.

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“I’m very happy to return to New York after my victory last year, but I also feel a great responsibility to defend my title,” Korir said. “It was surprising to me that the list of athletes who have returned to defend their title has very few names on it, but I am training very hard to join them. It is never easy, but I have the benefit of experience.”

Last year’s runner-up, Morocco’s Mohamed El Aaraby, and 2018 runner-up and 2020 London Marathon championEthiopia’s Shura Kitata, along with fellow Kenyan Evans Chebet will join Korir at the start line. Chebet is the defending Boston Marathon champion, has finished in the top five in Berlin, London, and Tokyo, and now will be making his first start in New York. Further international stars include Brazilian Olympian Daniel Do Nascimento, who is the Americas record-holder in the marathon and was eighth at the World Athletics Championships, and Japan’s Suguru Osako, who was third at the 2018 Chicago Marathon and fourth at the 2020 Tokyo Marathon. Both will be making their TCS New York City Marathon debuts. Dutch Olympic silver medalist and national record holder Abdi Nageeye, who was fifth last year, will return to try to better his place.

Leading the U.S. will be four-time Olympian Rupp, who will be making his TCS New York City Marathon debut. Rupp has competed at every Olympics since 2008, winning silver in the 10,000 meters at the London 2012 Games and bronze in the marathon at the Rio 2016 Games. He won the 2017 Chicago Marathon and was the runner-up there in 2021.

Galen Rupp Galen Rupp at 2016 Marathon Trials

“I am looking forward to making my debut in the 2022 TCS New York City Marathon,” Rupp said. “It will be my 12th marathon. So far, I won the Chicago and Prague marathons, won the Olympic Trials marathon twice, and took bronze in the 2016 Olympic Games marathon, but I know a win at the TCS New York City Marathon would be right up there. I have a lot of respect for the race and the other guys lining up against me, and I will be giving it my best shot on November 6.”

Joining Rupp from the U.S. will be five-time Olympian Abdi Abdirahman, who has six top-10 New York finishes to his name and will be racing his final career marathon, along with Olympian Shadrack Kipchirchir, who will be making his marathon debut after previously winning the USATF 5K Championships in Central Park and finishing as the top American in the 2022 United Airlines NYC Half. Last year’s top American finisher Elkanah Kibet, the top American finisher from this year’s Boston Marathon Scott Fauble, last year’s seventh-place finisher Ben True, and Rio 2016 Olympians Jared Ward and Leonard Korir will join them.

Professional Athlete Field –  Men’s Open Division

Name Country Personal Best
Evans Chebet KEN 2:03:00
Shura Kitata ETH 2:04:49
Daniel Do Nascimento BRA 2:04:51
Abdi Nageeye NED 2:04:56
Suguru Osako JPN 2:05:29
Galen Rupp USA 2:06:07
Tadesse Abraham SUI 2:06:38
Mohamed El Aaraby MAR 2:06:55
Olivier Irabaruta BDI 2:07:13
Tetsuya Yoroizaka JPN 2:07:55
Leonard Korir USA 2:07:56
Albert Korir KEN 2:08:03
Girma Bekele Gebre ETH 2:08:23
Scott Fauble USA 2:08:52
Abdi Abdirahman USA 2:08:56
Marty Hehir USA 2:08:59
Elkanah Kibet USA 2:09:07
Daniele Meucci ITA 2:09:25
Jared Ward USA 2:09:25
Mick Iacofano USA 2:09:55
Reed Fischer USA 2:10:42
Nathan Martin USA 2:11:05
Matt Llano USA 2:11:14
Frank Futselaar NED 2:11:30
Jonas Hampton USA 2:12:10
Ben True USA 2:12:53
Caleb Kerr USA 2:14:50
Edward Mulder USA 2:16:55
Sam Geha USA 2:17:25
Ben Toomer GBR 2:23:57
Matt Baxter NZL Debut
Shadrack Kipchirchir USA Debut
Jeff Thies USA Debut
Luis Porto PUR Debut

Quick Take: The NYC field is stronger than last year

Last year, with all of the majors taking place in the fall, New York City was extremely light on quality. It only featured one guy with a PB under 2:06, although the race did serve as the marathon debut for half marathon star Kibiwott Kandie and also included Olympic silver medallist Abdi Nageeye, who has since run 2:04:56. This year there are five men with a pb under 2:06 — not a ton (London has 11) but much better.

It makes sense that Rupp is in the field as he was banged up at Worlds, and if he ran Chicago (four weeks before NYC) he would have less time to get healthy. We always thought Rupp would be drawn to NYC as his ex-coach Alberto Salazar was New York City Marathon legend, winning three straight times in 1980-81-82. Shhhh. Don’t tell that to NYC. They removed him from the NYRR Hall of Fame.

More: Women’s Field: World Champ Gotytom Gebreslase Will Challenge Olympic Champ Peres Jepchirchir at 2022 New York City Marathon Hellen Obiri will also make her marathon debut and Americans Sara Hall, Emma Bates, Aliphine TuliamukDes Linden, Nell Rojas, and Stephanie Bruce will compete.

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