NYRR Media Center

Margriet van den Broek finished fifth in her TCS New York City Marathon debut last year, her fifth top-five finish in an Abbott World Marathon Majors race.

Van den Broek made her marathon debut in Berlin in September 2016, finishing third to Manuela Schär and Sandra Graf in 1:52:05. She improved that time a month later when she clocked 1:45:43 to place second to Tsubasa Kina at the Oita Marathon at the end of October, and again in Boston in 2017 when she clocked 1:38:33 in eighth. That last time remains her personal best.

On the track, van den Broek won bronze medals in the 400 and 800 meters at the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships and then became European champion last summer over 800 meters.

She made the finals of the 100, 400, and 800 meters at the Rio 2016 Paralympics.

Van den Broek has a displaced hip and used crutches until she was 35. She began using a wheelchair in 2010, and was a wheelchair basketball player before taking up athletics when she was spotted aged 38 at a talent identification day. She studied occupational therapy and works as a counselor at a social services organization in Amsterdam where she lives. Recently, she underwent chemotherapy to overcome breast cancer.