Peres Jepchirchir and Evans Chebet win Boston Marathon

Kenyan athletes have once again done what they do best; win! As witnessed in the 126th Boston Marathon where they’ve dominated both the men’s and women’s races, winning five of the six podium spots.

Evans Chebet won the men’s race in 2:6 51 to claim his first Boston Marathon title while compatriots Lawrence Cherono, who was the 2019 Boston Marathon winner finished second in 2:07:21. Last year’s winner, Benson Kipruto, came in third in 2:07:27.

Olympic Champion Peres Jepchirchir won the women’s race in the third-fastest time in event history, finishing in two hours, 21 minutes and one second. She becomes the first athlete to win the Olympic marathon, the New York City Marathon and Boston Marathon.

Ethiopian Ababel Yeshaneh placed second in 2:21:05 while Kenya’s Mary Ngugi finished third in 2:21:32. The last time Kenya took the top three spots on the podium was in 2012.

Boston Marathon was making a comeback following the disruption that was occasioned by the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic that saw the 2020 event called off while the 2021 edition was conducted virtually.

Six of the top 10 women’s finishers on Monday and five of the top 10 men were Kenyans.

“I’m celebrating this very much because this is my first victory in a major race and I tried very hard. I went to London and ended up in position four. I went to Tokyo and earned position four. So, I’m celebrating this day a lot.” 33-year-old Chebet said.