Boston Marathon 2024 LIVE: Results as Sisay Lemma wins but misses course record
Evans Chebet targets a third successive victory in the men’s elite race but faces stiff competition from Sisay Lemma and Gabriel Geay
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Your support makes all the difference.Ethiopia’s Sisay Lemma laid down a marker for the Paris Olympics with victory in the Boston Marathon ending Evans Chebet’s pursuit of a third consecutive title. Lemma set the early pace in the men’s elite competition and flew out ahead of the rest of the field to open a gap on the rest.
He was left to his own devices and for three-quarters of the run looked on track to beat the course record. The difficult and hilly last 10km put those thoughts to an end as Lemma’s pace dropped off massively with the chasers only growing stronger. Mohamed Esa came through late on to claim second with Chebet third but the damage was done as Lemma crossed the line over a minute ahead of his rivals.
Hellen Obiri celebrated a second win in as many years in the women’s elite race but was forced to work hard for her victory. Throughout the course she attempted to pull away but was drawn into the field until the final few miles. Five runners broke away with Obiri and Sharon Lokedi further distancing themselves. It was a two-woman race leading to the final mile but the Kenyan had more energy in reserve and powered to the line.
Eden Rainbow-Cooper also became the first British won to claim a title at the Boston Marathon as she triumphed over Manuela Schar in the women’s wheelchair event while Marcel Hug broke his own course record in the men’s wheelchair race as Britain’s David Weir finished third.
Relive our coverage of the marathon with the live blog below:
Boston Marathon 2024 LIVE
The winners of the men’s and women’s wheelchair races, Marcel Hug and Eden Rainbow-Cooper.
Boston Marathon 2024 LIVE
Sisay Lemma’s new predicted time is 2:04:00 which is outside of the course record. The last few miles, over the hardest part of the course, has been tough on him.
The chasers are getting faster as he gets slower. Is there enough time left in the race for them to catch him? Lemma is about four mile from the finish.
Boston Marathon 2024 LIVE
The women’s elite race remains too tight to call. Emma Bates has fallen into the middle of the field after leading for a while with Judith Korir and Mary Ngugi setting an increase in pace.
Is this the start of the final part of this race when the contenders to win make their move?
Boston Marathon 2024 LIVE
Sisay Lemma looks to be suffering slightly now. He’s shaking his shoulders, loosening the arms and twisting his neck. He’s got nothing to worry about at the minute but the chasing pack have reduced the gap by 20 seconds over the course of a mile.
Boston Marathon 2024 LIVE
The chasing pack are still over two minutes behind Sisay Lemma as they hit the 20 mile mark. With around 25-30 minutes of racing left it seemd highly unlikely that they’re going to catch him.
Lemma is solely focused on setting a new Boston Marathon record.
Boston Marathon 2024 LIVE
Emma Bates led through the halfway point of the women’s elite race with a time of 1:12:33. Again there’s only a second or so to split the top 10 in this race.
It’s all going to come down to the second half of the course as to who will claim victory. Hellen Obiri won from a similar position last year, will she do so again today?
Boston Marathon 2024 LIVE
Sisay Lemma is through 25km now and is on for a predicted time of 2:01:05. That said, the Newton Hills are still to come before Heartbreak Hill which will eat into his time as they are the most difficult parts of the course.
If he can get through the next three or four miles he may still be on to break the record. Evans Chebet, despite his efforts, has slipped further behind.
Boston Marathon 2024 LIVE
There’s been another break from the field in the men’s elite race. Evans Chebet, Cybrian Kotut, Albert Korir and John Korir are all attempting to close the gap on Sisay Lemma while they’ve still got a bit of time left in the race.
It’s a tough ask for them though with the hills that are still to come.
Boston Marathon 2024 LIVE
Eden Rainbow-Cooper becomes the first British women to win at the Boston Marathon!
Boston Marathon 2024 LIVE
Here’s the post race reaction from Eden Rainbow-Cooper who said: “It really took everything.
“It was such a mentally tough challenge, pushing a marathon on your own is so difficult. I only started two years ago, it took absolutely everything and I can’t believe it.
“I kept my head down and was pushing on my own race. I was just in my own head. I’m just so proud to be able to represent my country and give my absolute best.
“I had nothing left but the crowd carried me through. At the end of the race you just have to put everything you left and that was absolutely everything I had. I couldn’t have pushed a metre more.”
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