The New York City Marathon Will Have a Stacked Field of U.S. Women

No rest for the Olympians—at least those who are lining up for the 2021 New York City Marathon on November 7, including Molly Seidel, who won the bronze medal in Sapporo and Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya who took the gold.

New York City Marathon officials released the list of American professional women scheduled to compete in the fall event, the first edition since the pandemic canceled the in-person version in 2020. Some of the top U.S. women will line up with Seidel, including her peers from Team USA, Aliphine Tuliamuk and Sally Kipyego. Emily Sisson, who competed in the 10,000 meters in Tokyo, will also race.

“Since the beginning of 2021, I’ve had two races circled on my calendar: The Olympic Games Marathon on August 7, and the TCS New York City Marathon on November 7,” Seidel said, in a written statement. “Winning the bronze medal in Sapporo showed that I can run with the best in the world, and on any given day, anything is possible. I can’t think of a better year to run my first New York than in its 50th running.”

Joining Jepchirchir in the international field is Helalia Johannes, the 2019 world championships bronze medalist from Namibia; and Ruti Aga of Ethiopia, who won the 2019 Tokyo Marathon and was third in New York. Ababel Yeshaneh, also from Ethiopia, was second in Chicago in 2019. Alexi Pappas, who competes for Greece, will make her New York City Marathon debut.

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Seidel enters New York after finishing the Olympic race in 2:27:46, becoming the third U.S. woman to ever medal in the event. She set her 26.2-mile personal best at the 2020 London Marathon, 2:25:13. Tuliamuk, who won the U.S. Olympic Trials, was unable to the finish the distance at the Olympics with a hip injury, but comes in with a fastest marathon of 2:26:50, set at the 2019 Rotterdam Marathon. Kipyego, who won the silver medal at the 2012 Olympics in the 10,000 meters, finished 17th at the Tokyo Games. She placed second at 2016 New York City Marathon and later discovered she ran while four weeks pregnant.

“My life has changed a lot since then—I improved my marathon personal best, became a mother, and gained U.S. citizenship—but one thing that hasn’t changed is my dream of reaching the top step of that podium in Central Park,” Kipyego said, in a written statement.

Sisson will race the New York City Marathon for the first time, after placing 10th at the Tokyo Olympics in the 10,000 meters. She debuted at the 26.2-mile distance at the 2019 London Marathon and clocked 2:23:08, the fastest-ever debut by an American woman on a record-eligible course.

Another entrant? Desiree Linden, who’s also scheduled to race the Boston Marathon on October 11. She’s the 2018 Boston Marathon champion and earlier this year dabbled in the ultra-distances, running 2:59:54 for the 50K, a world best time.

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Also scheduled to compete are Laura Thweatt, who finished fifth at the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials; Stephanie Bruce, sixth at the Trials, and Kellyn Taylor, who was eighth at the Trials.

The wheelchair division will feature Tatyana McFadden, who is currently competing in five events at the Tokyo Paralympics—she’s a 17-time Paralympic medalist and she’s won the New York City Marathon five times. She’ll face seven-time Paralympic medalist Amanda McGory, a two-time champion in New York; and Susannah Scaroni.

Learn more about the American field at the New York City Marathon here.