2024 NYC Marathon: Abdi Nageeye (2:07:39) Wins First Career World Marathon Major at Age 35
Nageeye, the 2021 Olympic silver medalist, is also the first Dutchman to win a WMM event
By Jonathan Gault
NEW YORK – With five kilometers remaining in the Olympic marathon in Paris on August 10, the Netherlands’ Abdi Nageeye saw the medals slipping away from him. He had earned the silver medal three years earlier in Sapporo, but knew there would be no repeat and decided to drop out.
Well, he tried to drop out. As Nageeye stopped running, he looked around and figured it might be a while until anyone came to pick him up. So he jogged the next five kilometers before finally stepping off the course with a kilometer to go.
“One of my biggest disappointments ever,” Nageeye said.
Nageeye has spent each of the ensuing 85 days thinking about that race. At first, he mourned. But as he returned to training a few weeks later, he made his peace with it. From then on, if he was thinking about Paris, he was using it as motivation for his next goal.
“I told myself, you will never get it back,” Nageeye said. “It is done. It is over. You can only do one thing: in less than two months, you can do something great.”
Kevin Morris photo
That something great was win the 2024 TCS New York City Marathon. And on a sun-splashed Sunday morning, Nageeye was as good as his word, breaking 2022 NYC champ Evans Chebet as they re-entered Central Park with half a mile to go to win the race in 2:07:39.
The win was Nageeye’s third marathon victory in 23 career starts. He had previously won twice in Rotterdam but, at age 35, this was his first World Marathon Major victory (in his 11th major start). Nageeye, who was born in Somalia and spent time in Syria as a child before settling in the Netherlands as a teenager, became the first Dutchman to win a WMM event and the first European to win a major since Great Britain’s Mo Farah won Chicago in 2018. He is the first European man to win in New York since Italy’s Giacomo Leone in 1996 but today’s win is also 14th in a row won by a man born in Africa.
Chebet took second in 2:07:45 with 2021 champ Albert Korir (2:08:00) finishing 3rd, his fourth podium finish in the last five editions. Olympic champ Tamirat Tola, who set the course record last year in New York, was dropped after 21 miles and wound up 4th in 2:08:12.
Conner Mantz (2:09:00) was the top American in 6th, and as usual, his training partner Clayton Young (2:09:21) was not far behind in 7th. CJ Albertson was 10th in 2:10:57 just three weeks after running a 2:08:17 pb in Chicago. Mantz’s time was the fastest ever by an American in New York (Alberto Salazar ran 2:08:13 in 1981, but that course was later found to be ~150m short).
Top 15 results
| Place | Name | Country | Time | Pace |
| 1 | Abdi Nageeye | NED | 2:07:39 | 4:53 |
| 2 | Evans Chebet | KEN | 2:07:45 | 4:53 |
| 3 | Albert Korir | KEN | 2:08:00 | 4:53 |
| 4 | Tamirat Tola | ETH | 2:08:12 | 4:54 |
| 5 | Geoffrey Kamworor | KEN | 2:08:50 | 4:55 |
| 6 | Conner Mantz | USA | 2:09:00 | 4:56 |
| 7 | Clayton Young | USA | 2:09:21 | 4:56 |
| 8 | Abel Kipchumba | KEN | 2:10:39 | 4:59 |
| 9 | Bashir Abdi | BEL | 2:10:39 | 4:59 |
| 10 | Cj Albertson | USA | 2:10:57 | 5:00 |
| 11 | Ryan Ford | USA | 2:11:08 | 5:01 |
| 12 | Colin Bennie | USA | 2:11:16 | 5:01 |
| 13 | Frank Lara | USA | 2:11:21 | 5:01 |
| 14 | Jonny Mellor | GBR | 2:11:22 | 5:01 |
| 15 | Rory Linkletter | CAN | 2:11:45 | 5:02 |
The Race
On a glorious day for running (sunny, temps in the 40s, 8 mph wind), the pace lagged in the first half and the leaders hit halfway in 65:33 with 13 men five seconds of the front. The first major move came at 16 miles as the leaders stepped off the Queensboro Bridge into Manhattan as Evans Chebet threw in a surge, briefly stringing out the field before a pack of seven men quickly re-formed.
Nageeye broke Chebet with half a mile to go (Kevin Morris photo)
Tola came over the top with a move of his own, ripping a 4:27 17th mile, the fastest of the race to that point, and now the racing was on. Six men remained: Chebet, Tola, Korir, Nageeye, two-time NYC champ Geoffrey Kamworor, and HOKA NAZ Elite’s Wesley Kiptoo.
The pace would stay hot, 4:35 for mile 20 and 4:41 for 21, as first Kiptoo, then Korir and Tola fell behind as Chebet pushed the tempo. Kamworor succumbed at 23 miles as the men raced down Fifth Avenue, and it was a two-man race as Chebet and Nageeye entered Central Park. At that point, Tola was beginning to rally, closing the gap to just four seconds, but Chebet, feeling the pressure, attacked again and Tola fell behind for good.
Try as he might, however, Chebet could not shake Nageeye, who had been waiting for this moment and won thanks to a 4:47 final mile. As Nageeye watched other runners surge to the front earlier in the race, he told himself to remain patient. This was his fourth time running New York, and he knows the race is rarely decided before the final 10k. His race, he said, would not begin until after the drinks station at 36 kilometers. It was the right approach on a day when Nageeye made up for one of his greatest disappointments with his greatest victory.
Quick Takes by Jonathan Gault & Robert Johnson
Abdi Nageeye is a major champion at last
In 2021, just three months after a surprise silver medal at the Olympics, Abdi Nageeye came to the NYC Marathon with high expectations. His workouts had gone even better than before the Olympics and he had just watched his then training partner Bashir Abdi of Belgium – the man he beat out for silver in Sapporo – set a European record of 2:03:36 to win the Rotterdam Marathon. He spoke confidently about his chances at media day.
But Nageeye was never a factor, finishing 5th, more than three minutes behind winner Albert Korir.
This year, Nageeye flew under the radar. Though he won the Rotterdam Marathon in April in a Dutch record of 2:04:45, he dropped out of the Olympics and was overshadowed by one of the strongest fields in NYC history, led by Olympic gold and silver medalists Tola and Bashir Abdi. Nageeye wasn’t even at media day this year, and we didn’t even mention him in the LetsRun.com preview.
Nageeye wasn’t bothered.
“When you train by yourself, the media will not know you,” Nageeye said. “I was not one of the favorites. I was like, okay, they will know me on Sunday.”
Nageeye earned his Olympic silver under coach Gary Lough, but the two parted ways in the spring of 2023 and since then has largely been self-coached in Eldoret, though he does receive advisement from Louis Delahaije, a Dutch coach who also works with cyclists and triathletes.
Nageeye said that ahead of the Olympics, he felt he tried too many new things, so for this buildup he went back to a program he used when he was part of Patrick Sang’s group in Kaptagat. Smart decision.
“I was hoping for one month more of training but I think it was enough today,” Nageeye said.
Tamira Tola felt muscle fatigue did him in but is already motivated for a world record attempt in 2025
Tola said his preparation had “gone very well” and he felt great aerobically but said “muscle fatigue” did him in just three months after his Olympic victory. His coach Gemedu Dedefo agreed. Even when Tola was pushing the pace, Dedefo said he could tell Tola didn’t look like the Tola of earlier in 2024 and thought Tola looked “heavy on his legs.” Gedefu said he thought Tola left a “lot of energy” on the difficult Paris course but did admit before the race he was “a little bit” confident that Tola would be the winner.
Afterwards, Tola was upbeat and proud to have fought to the very end, saying sometimes you win in sport and sometimes you lose. He said 2024 was “very good for me personally” but he’s already looking forward to 2025.
“I’d like to make an attempt on the world record. I’d like to have the world record. Otherwise to improve my personal best,” said Tola, who has a 2:03:39 pb. “So far I have succeeded in the World Championships and the Olympics. What I haven’t done is go for a very fast time. So if I do good preparation, I’d l hope to be able to attack the world record in Berlin.”
When we told Dedefo what Tola told us, he had the classic coach’s response.
“He did not say 100% (world record),” Dedefo said. “The plan is to run faster. I would not say world record.”
Dedefo also didn’t commit to Berlin and said he felt like Chicago and Berlin were similar in terms of how fast the course is. He feels the most important thing is simply for the athlete to get fitness.
Conner Mantz caps stellar year with an American course record in New York
Kevin Morris photo
Conner Mantz has now run six marathons in his career. He has finished as the top American in five of them, including today, when he ran faster than any American ever has in New York. Mantz was actually hoping to run even faster, as he wanted to improve on his 2:07:47 pb. Mantz said he was frustrated by the early pace (31:27 for 10k, 2:12 pace) but admitted he did not want to be the one pushing from the front. When the pace did finally pick up heading into Manhattan, Mantz felt the move was too aggressive for him to match.
“I think I kind of got destroyed when Evans made his move,” Mantz said. “I knew that that was too fast for me.”
While Mantz is way faster than virtually everyone reading this article, he does have a lot in common with anyone who has been on a cross country team. He admitted that when his training partner Young caught him in the final two miles of the race, it motivated him to pick it up as he didn’t want to lose to his good friend.
With an Olympic Trials win and top American finishes at the Olympics (8th) and New York (6th), Mantz, 27, has become America’s best marathoner, a title many believed he would one day claim when he turned pro out of BYU in 2021. Now the question is whether he can continue closing the gap from the best in the US to the best in the world.
An emotional Clayton Young: “What a freaking year… I’m very, very proud of it”
For the third time in 2024, Clayton Young ran a strong marathon and finished close behind Conner Mantz, this time taking 7th in 2:09:21. When we asked him to reflect on his 2024 campaign, only his sunglasses could partially prevent us from seeing the tears streaming down his face.
CJ Albertson caps a breakout year with 10th place in NYC and did not want to use a quick turnaround from Chicago as an excuse for getting beaten
Albertson ran 2:10:57 for 10th today in New York just 21 days after running 2:08:17 in Chicago, a truly remarkable feat. No American had ever run sub-2:11s so close together, and Albertson may be the only American who has ever been capable of doing it – or at least the only one crazy enough to try.
But Albertson wanted to be the top American today, and he would not use the quick turnaround as an excuse for why he finished behind Mantz and Young.
“I don’t think I would have ran any better had I not run Chicago,” Albertson said. “…I’m just honestly just not quite at that level yet to run with those guys.”
Albertson felt that he had made improvements over the last few years but his performances did not quite reflect it until 2024, when he finished 5th at the Olympic Trials, 7th in Boston and Chicago (top American each time) and lowered his pb from 2:10:23 to 2:08:17. But he is not content to rest on his laurels. Three Americans – Ryan Ford, Colin Bennie, and Frank Lara – finished within 24 seconds of Albertson today. His 2:08:17 makes Albertson the second-fastest American of 2024, but he thinks it will require faster than that moving forward.
“Once Americans all start running 2:08s, hopefully I’m a year ahead and can get to those 2:06s, because it’s just going to get way faster every year,” Albertson said.
Albertson also noted that it was a fast day for Americans overall. Of the 10 fastest times ever run by Americans on the current NYC course layout, six came from today’s race.
Fastest times by Americans at New York City Marathon (current course)
1. 2:09:00 Conner Mantz 2024
2. 2:09:13 Meb Keflezighi 2011
3. 2:09:21 Clayton Young 2024
4. 2:09:29 Alberto Salazar 1982
5. 2:10:45 Jared Ward 2019
6. 2:10:57 CJ Albertson 2024
7. 2:11:08 Ryan Ford 2024
8. 2:11:15 Elkanah Kibet 2021
9. 2:11:16 Colin Bennie 2024
10. 2:11:21 Frank Lara 2024
Former Tennesee-Martin and Iowa State runner Ryan Ford had a very credible 2:11:08 debut for 11th
Ford, who runs for ZAP Endurance, said he’s been training alone in Florida as the recent hurricane damage made training in North Carolina impossible.
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