New York, August 9, 2022 – Defending open division champion Albert Korir of Kenya and wheelchair division champion Marcel Hug of Switzerland, along with U.S. Olympic and Paralympic stars Galen Rupp and Daniel Romanchuk, will headline one of the strongest men’s professional athlete fields in recent history with 13 Olympians and 12 Paralympians at the TCS New York City Marathon on Sunday, November 6.

Men’s Open Division
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.

“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 champion, Ethiopia’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.

“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.

Men’s Wheelchair Division
Twelve-time Paralympic medalist Hug will race for his fifth TCS New York City Marathon crown in a field that boasts athletes from 10 different countries. With another victory, he would tie Tatyana McFadden and Kurt Fearnley for the most wins by a professional wheelchair athlete at the event. He previously won New York in 2013, 2016, and 2017. Hug’s top finish in New York last year marked his fifth Abbott World Marathon Majors race victory in 2021, having also won the Berlin, London, Boston, and Paralympic marathons.

“Even though I have participated in the prestigious TCS New York City Marathon many times, it is always a unique experience,” Hug said. “I am really looking forward to it. I am highly motivated and will strive for my fifth victory.”

Romanchuk, a two-time U.S. Paralympic medalist at the Tokyo Games last year, was third in New York in 2021 after becoming the youngest athlete ever and first men’s American wheelchair racer to win the event in 2018 and repeating his effort in 2019. Already this year, he has won both the United Airlines NYC Half and the Boston Marathon, and will look to regain his New York title.

Challenging Hug and Romanchuk for podium positions will be American Aaron Pike, a dual-sport athlete aiming for his first podium appearance after finishing fourth in 2019, and more recently finishing third last year in Chicago and second this year in Boston.

South Africa’s eight-time Paralympic medalist and 10-time Boston Marathon champion Ernst van Dyk, who won New York in 2005 and 2015, will also be part of the men’s wheelchair field, as will 2017 runner-up Johnboy Smith of Great Britain, and this year’s United Airlines NYC Half runner-up Hermin Garic of the U.S.

The course-record bonus for the professional wheelchair division will be raised to $50,000 this year, making the wheelchair division bonus equal to the open division bonus.

The 2022 TCS New York City Marathon on Sunday, November 6 will return at full capacity with 50,000 runners and be televised live on WABC-TV Channel 7 in the New York tristate area, throughout the rest of the nation on ESPN2, and around the world by various international broadcasters.

Professional Athlete Field –  Men’s Open Division

Professional Athlete Field – Men’s Wheelchair Division

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About New York Road Runners (NYRR)
NYRR’s mission is to help and inspire people through running. Since 1958, New York Road Runners has grown from a local running club to the world’s premier community running organization. NYRR’s commitment to New York City’s five boroughs features races, virtual races, community events, free youth running initiatives and school programs, the NYRR RUNCENTER featuring the New Balance Run Hub, and training resources that provide hundreds of thousands of people each year with the motivation, know-how, and opportunity to Run for Life. NYRR’s premier event is the TCS New York City Marathon. Held annually on the first Sunday in November, the race features a wide population of runners, from the world’s top professional athletes to a vast range of competitive, recreational, and charity runners. To learn more, visit www.nyrr.org.