The defending champion finished sixth. Seven men broke the old course record. And a 46-year-old ran the race of her life from the front before the world’s best finally caught her. The TCS Sydney Marathon 2026 did not just produce fast times — it produced one of the deepest, most chaotic and most compelling Major races in recent memory.
Addisu Gobena of Ethiopia won the men’s race in 2:04:42, setting a new course record and the fastest marathon time ever run on Australian soil. Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya won the women’s race in 2:18:31, claiming her fourth marathon Major title with a display of controlled dominance that belied just how dramatic the race around her had been. In the wheelchair race, Switzerland’s Manuela Schär completed the first-ever sweep of all eight Abbott World Marathon Majors.
This was Sydney’s second year as a World Marathon Major. It is already punching at the top of the division.
Seven Men Under the Old Course Record — the Men’s Race Rewritten
The headline is Gobena’s 2:04:42. The real story is what happened around him. Seven men finished inside Hailemaryam Kiros’ previous course record of 2:06:06. Kiros himself — the defending champion — was one of them, finishing sixth in 2:05:16. He ran faster than his winning time from 2025 and did not make the podium.
The lead group stayed together with ruthless discipline through halfway in 1:02:28, nearly 80 seconds faster than the split that produced last year’s record. Ten men were still in contention at 30km. Seven were together approaching 40km, still 27 seconds inside course-record pace, still refusing to break each other.
Gobena had tried to move at 28km and been brought back. The decisive split only came in the final two kilometres when he and compatriot Chimdessa Debele broke clear of the group and turned the race into a two-man sprint. Gobena edged it across the Opera House line, with Lesotho’s Tebello Ramakongoana taking third in 2:04:57 — the same time recorded by world champion Alphonce Simbu in fourth.
| Pos | Athlete | Country | Time | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Addisu Gobena | Ethiopia | 2:04:42 | Course record · Fastest ever on Australian soil |
| 2 | Chimdessa Debele | Ethiopia | 2:04:45 | Under old CR |
| 3 | Tebello Ramakongoana | Lesotho | 2:04:57 | Under old CR |
| 4 | Alphonce Simbu | Tanzania | 2:04:57 | World champion · Under old CR |
| 5 | Jemal Mekonnen | Ethiopia | 2:04:59 | Under old CR |
| 6 | Hailemaryam Kiros | Ethiopia | 2:05:16 | Defending champion · Under old CR |
| 7 | Vincent Ngetich | Kenya | 2:05:28 | Under old CR |
For Gobena it was a second act that felt inevitable in hindsight. He had finished second in Sydney in 2025 behind the man he just defeated. He arrived this year with the same 2:05:01 personal best and left with a 2:04:42 course record. He knew this course, knew what Oxford Street would do to the field at KM 34 and waited.
Jepchirchir Wins Her Fourth Major — But the Race Belonged to a 46-Year-Old First
Jepchirchir won this race the way the very best do — patient, controlled, inevitable. But she was not the story for most of the morning.
That was Priscah Cherono, 46 years old, a Kenyan veteran whose world 5000m bronze medal came in 2007. Cherono shot off the front at the gun, reaching 5km in 15:34 with the entire elite field already 13 seconds behind her. At 10km she was 23 seconds clear and running 16 seconds faster than her official 10km personal best. At halfway she led by 29 seconds, covering the first half in 1:07:58 — 37 seconds faster than her official half marathon best from 2012.
The race caught her before 28km. Jepchirchir and Irine Cheptai closed the gap, absorbed Cherono and moved to the front as a trio. By 30km they were together in 1:37:48, running at 2:17:34 pace and already 1:46 clear of everyone else.
Jepchirchir then did what she does. She pulled away from Cheptai before 35km, reaching that checkpoint in 1:54:47 — exactly on course-record pace — and ran the Opera House line unchallenged in 2:18:31. Just nine seconds short of Sifan Hassan’s course record from 2025. Cherono, for the audacity of her front-running, was rewarded with a personal best of 2:23:49 in sixth — more than a minute faster than anything she had run before.
| Pos | Athlete | Country | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Peres Jepchirchir | Kenya | 2:18:31 |
| 2 | Irine Cheptai | Kenya | 2:22:11 |
| 3 | Shure Demise | Ethiopia | 2:22:33 |
| 4 | Haven Hailu | Ethiopia | 2:22:57 |
| 5 | Meseret Abebayahu | Ethiopia | 2:23:40 |
| 6 | Priscah Cherono | Kenya | 2:23:49 PB |
Schär Makes History No One Will Forget
The biggest individual story of the day did not involve a marathon at all — at least not in the way anyone had planned. Manuela Schär of Switzerland crossed the Opera House finish line in the women’s wheelchair race in 1:42:04, a new course record, to become the first athlete in history to win all eight Abbott World Marathon Majors. Boston, Tokyo, London, Berlin, Chicago, New York, Sydney. All eight. Done.
Daniel Romanchuk of the USA won the men’s wheelchair race in 1:26:50, also a course record.
What the 2026 Results Tell You About the 2027 Race
Sydney in two editions has gone from respectable Australian city marathon to one of the most competitive Major fields in the world. The men’s depth on Sunday — seven finishers under what was a course record 12 months ago — is the kind of field Tokyo or Chicago produces. The women’s race was tactically fascinating in a way that flat, pacesetter-led marathons rarely are.
For recreational runners watching from afar, the more pressing implication is the ballot. Applications hit 123,000 in 2026 for roughly 40,000 places. The 2027 public ballot opens on 24 September 2026 for a 23-day window and closes on 17 October 2026. It is free to enter and there is no downside to applying. There is a significant downside to missing the window.
Two editions in, Sydney has made its case. The course record has fallen twice in two years. The women’s race produced one of the more entertaining tactical battles of the Major season. A 46-year-old led the world’s best for 28 kilometres. And Manuela Schär finished off the only checklist in athletics that nobody else has ever completed.
If you are thinking about entering, the full race guide — course breakdown, Oxford Street strategy, travel and accommodation — is at fatmarathoner.com/sydney-marathon.