Jepchirchir adds the Sydney Marathon win to making it her 4th World Major

Aug 30, 2026 - 14:31

For the first 16 miles of the women’s race at the Sydney Marathon, an unexpected competitor was out in front.

Priscah Cherono of Kenya—who is 46 and has a marathon personal best of 2:25:17 from last year’s Marathon Project in Chandler, Arizona—built a sizable lead in the race’s early miles. She hit the halfway mark in 1:07:59, 36 seconds faster than her official half marathon best.

Meanwhile, lurking 20 seconds back was Peres Jepchirchir, the reigning world champion and the 2021 Olympic gold medalist in the marathon.

Jepchirchir, 32, has won three of the seven World Marathon Majors, including London (2024), Boston (2022), and New York City (2021). She has a personal best of 2:14:43 from last year's Valencia Marathon, seventh on the all-time list.

And now she has Sydney to add to her list of majors.

Jepchirchir moved into the lead around 18 miles, built a 10-second lead over Irine Cheptai, also of Kenya, by 21 miles, and pushed the gap to almost four minutes by the finish. Jepchirchir won in 2:18:31, narrowly missing the course record (2:18:22) that Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands set last year. Although several men ran near her pace early in the race, only one male competitor remained to push her by the end.

Jepchirchir takes home $139,000 Australian dollars ($100,000 U.S. dollars) for the win. In a finish-line interview, she said the course was “tough” for its hills in the first half.

“All the ladies were prepared,” she said. “I was prepared. But I was not sure if I was going to come and win. But I'm so glad, and I'm so happy.”

Cheptai was visibly suffering over the race’s final stretch. She finished second in 2:22:11 and vomited at the finish line. Shure Demise of Ethiopia was third in 2:22:33.

Although Cherono did not fall back immediately when Jepchirchir and Cheptai caught up with her—they ran together as a pack for several minutes—by the finish Cherono had faded to sixth place.

Her time, 2:23:49, was still a large PR on a difficult course.

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