Addisu Gobena posted his breakout moment with a course record at the Sydney Marathon and Peres Jepchirchir broke away late to take the women’s race as the fall majors season got its official kick off on Sunday.
In a race that came down to the closing moments, Gobena took the win with a final sprint in a 2:02:42 course record upgrading his second place finish on the same course last year.
The 21-year-old Gobena was part of a deep men’s lead group of seven that held tight well into the later stages of the race but around the 40km mark at 1:58:38, he made a decisive move to open a slight gap on fellow Ethiopian Chimdessa Debele. Gobena would maintain his lead and cruised through the finish line with an emphatic celebration as he claimed the course record and secured his second career win.
Debele was second in 2:04:46 while Tebello Ramakongoana took third in 2:04:57 and defending champion Alphonse Simbu also crossed the line in 2:04:57 fourth place.
The top seven men’s finishers clocked times under the 2:06:06 record set by Hailemaryam Kiros in last year’s race, with Kiros part of the group as he took sixth in 2:05:16.
The women’s race took on its own narrative as Priscah Cherono made an early effort to take the her fellow competitors out of the mix with an aggressive opening 5km at 15:34 that put her on a solo mission as the chase pack — around 13 second back — could only watch as the gap would widen.
By the halfway point, as Cherono crossed at 1:07:58, the group behind her has thinned drastically as she seemingly put the race out of reach with Jepchirchir and Irene Cheptai trailing by 29 seconds. But the story of the race began to take shape as Cherono’s sizable advantage narrowed and at the 30km mark, Jepchirchir and Cheptai erased her lead and all three passed the mark together at 1:37:48.
Jepchirchir saw her opening at 35km at 1:54:47 as she already began to shifted away from Cheptai moments earlier with a possible course record in play. However, even as her place slowed, Jepchirchir cracked open a sizable lead on Cheptai and locked in the win at 2:18:31.
Cheptai was a distant second in 2:22:11 while Shure Demise finished third in 2:22:33.
Daniel Romanchuk took a commanding win in the men’s wheelchair race with a 1:26:50 course record victory ahead of David Weir, who was second in 1:31:32 and Luo Xingchuan’s 1:31:35 effort for third.
Manuela Schär stormed to a record of her own after bolting to a 1:42:04 victory in the women’s wheelchair and is now the first woman to win all seven Abbott World Marathon Majors. Eden Rainbow-Cooper was second in 1:47:17 and Tatyana McFadden finsihed third in 1:51:08.
2026 Sydney Marathon Results
Men’s Elite Field
1. Addisu Gobena (Ethiopia) – 2:04:42
2. Chimdessa Debele (Ethiopia) – 2:04:46
3. Tebello Ramakongoana (Lesotho) – 2:04:57
4. Alphonce Simbu (Tanzania) – 2:04:57
5. Jemal Yimer Mekonnen (Ethiopia) – 2:04:59
6. Hailemaryam Kiros (Ethiopia) – 2:05:16
7. Vincent Ngetich (Kenya) – 2:05:28
8. Dawit Wolde (Ethiopia) – 2:06:41
9. Kennedy Kimutai (Kenya) – 2:06:50
10. Gilbert Kibet (Kenya) – 2:07:13
Men’s Elite Field
1. Peres Jepchirchir (Kenya) – 2:18:31
2. Irene Cheptai (Kenya) – 2:22:11
3. Shure Demise (Ethiopia) – 2:22:33
4. Haven Hailu Desse (Ethiopia) – 2:22:57
5. Meseret Abebayahau (Ethiopia) – 2:23:40
6. Priscah Cherono (Kenya) – 2:23:49
7. Stella Chesang (Uganda) – 2:23:52
8. Fikrte Wereta Admasu (Ethiopia) – 2:25:18
9. Ellie Pashley (Australia) – 2:28:28
10. Ayana Aberu Mulisa (Ethiopia) – 2:28:30
Men’s Wheelchair
1. Daniel Romanchuk (USA) — 1:26:50
2. David Weir (Great Britain) — 1:31:32
3. Luo Xingchuan (China) — 1:31:35
4. Tomoki Suzuki (Japan) — 1:31:41
5. Gerard Schipper (Netherlands) — 1:31:52
6. Sho Watanabe (Japan) — 1:35:41
7. Robert Joshua Cassidy (Canada) — 1:37:26
8. Miguel Jimenez Vergara (USA) — 1:39:34
9. Kota Hokanoue (Japan) — 1:41:48
10. Masazumi Soejima (Japan) — 1:51:29
Women’s Wheelchair
1. Manuela Schär (Switzerland) — 1:42:04
2. Eden Rainbow-Cooper (Great Britain) — 1:47:17
3. Tatyana McFadden (USA) — 1:51:08
4. Madison de Rozario (Australia) — 1:53:34
5. Vanessa Cristina de Souza (Brazil) — 1:54:45
6. Eliza Ault-Connell (Australia) — 2:01:14
7. Tsubasa Nakamine (Japan) — 2:06:02
8. Michelle Wheeler (USA) — 2:26:17
9. Mikaela Dingley (Australia) — 2:40:14
