Olympic gold medalist Peres Jepchirchir wins 50th women's Boston Marathon
Kenyan Olympic gold medalist Peres Jepchirchir brought her Tokyo Olympics skills to the Boston Marathon on Monday. Jepchirchir, 28, finished the Marathon in 2 hours, 21 minutes and 2 seconds, winning the 50th women's Boston Marathon.
Jepchirchir's win came down to the final lap. She traded places with Ababel Yeshaneh throughout the entire race. The two changed positions eight times in the final mile, according to the Associated Press.
The win continues Jepchirchir's streak of dominance in marathons. She took home a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics, finishing with a time of 2 hours, 27 minutes and 20 seconds. She then won the 2021 New York Marathon in 2 hours, 22 minutes and 39 seconds.
On the men's side, Kenyan runner Evans Chebet came out on top. He finished the 2022 Boston Marathon in 2 hours, 6 minutes and 51 seconds. Chebet kept pace with Gabriel Geay of Tanzania throughout most of the race. With four miles to go, Chebet pulled ahead for good.
First Boston Marathon since COVID-19 pandemic
The event marks the first semi-normal Boston Marathon since the COVID-19 pandemic. The event was canceled in 2020 due to COVID-19. The Boston Marathon was supposed to return during the spring of 2021, but the event got moved to October. It was the first time the event took place in the fall.
The 2021 Boston Marathon was limited to 20,000 participants due to the pandemic. The Boston Athletic Association offered a virtual event so other runners could participate.
The 2022 Boston Marathon marked the first time since 2019 the race took place in the spring. Roughly 30,000 runners took part in the event Monday.
