Israel’s Lonah Chemtai Salpeter finishes 2nd in NY Marathon
Kenyan-born runner finishes women’s race in 2:23:30; seven seconds behind winner Sharon Lokedi, also from Kenya
Israeli runner Lonah Chemtai Salpeter finished second in the New York Marathon women’s race on Sunday, just seven seconds behind the winner, with a result of 2:23:30.
Debutants Evans Chebet of Kenya won the New York City Marathon men’s race and Sharon Lokedi of Kenya won the women’s.
It was Lokedi’s first-ever marathon and she finished in 2 hours, 23 minutes and 23 seconds. The 28-year-old was in a tight race before she pulled ahead of the Israeli in the final two miles (3.2 kilometers) to win by seven seconds and finish about 50 seconds off the course record.
It was an unseasonably warm day — with the temperature expected to soar into the 70s and possibly challenge the record for the hottest race since the marathon moved to November in 1986. This was the first time that the marathon was back to full capacity since the pandemic began.
In July, Chemtai Salpeter claimed the bronze medal during the women’s marathon at the World Athletic Championships in Eugene, Oregon.
A native Kenyan who became an Israeli citizen in 2016, Chemtai Salpeter is only the third Israeli in history to win a medal at that competition and her result was a national best at a world championships.
Chemtai Salpeter moved to Israel in 2008 to work as a nanny, took up running as a hobby and later married her Israeli coach. She then fought for citizenship for years.
She eventually received Israeli citizenship in March of 2016, after winning the Tel Aviv Marathon, allowing her to compete for Israel in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
At the 2016 Olympics, Chemtai Salpeter had a disappointing finish, when she had to stop before completion due to shoulder pain caused by running with the extra weight of breastmilk, as she was still breastfeeding her son at the time.
In Tokyo, she finished in 66th place, dropping from the third spot in the final stretch of the race after suffering stomach pains.
