Judith Korir, Gabriel Geay headline fastest Sydney Marathon field

Kenya’s 2022 World Championships silver medalist and Paris Marathon champion Judith Korir headlines the women’s elite field at this year’s Sydney Marathon, a World Athletics Elite Platinum Label road race, slated for Sunday 17 September as she makes her Australian debut.

The 27-year-old, who finished sixth in the London Marathon in April, ran her personal best (PB) of 2:18:20 when finishing runner-up to Gotytom Gebreslase on the global stage in Oregon last year.

The field’s experience in global and major marathon racing will make it the fastest marathon pack ever assembled in Australia, with homegrown and international talent battling it out on the event’s new course.

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Korir faces six other sub-2:22 women, including compatriot Angela Tanui, who ran 2:17:57 to win the Amsterdam Marathon in 2021. She went on to place fourth in the Tokyo Marathon the following year and then secured sixth place in Oregon.

Haven Hailu Desse is among the seven Ethiopian athletes in the field and she will look to complete her first marathon since winning in Osaka in 2:21:13 in January. Her PB of 2:20:19 was also set in Amsterdam in 2021.

Eritrea’s Nazret Weldu finished fourth and then eighth in the past two World Championships marathons, while Siranesh Yirga Dagne has a best of 2:21:08.

Australian marathon record-holder Sinead Diver, who broke the national marathon record last year in Valencia with a time of 2:21:34, will lead the local elite field, making her Sydney Marathon debut. The field also features USA’s Betsy Saina, a 2:21:40 marathon runner at her best.

Meanwhile, Tanzanian national record-holder Gabriel Geay leads the men’s field with his PB of 2:03:00 set in Valencia last year.

The 27-year-old went on to finish second in Boston Marathon in April, clocking 2:06:04 behind winner Evans Chebet (2:05:54), and he placed seventh in the World Championships marathon in Oregon in 2022.

But, Moses Kibet has more experience when it comes to racing in Australia as he won last year’s Sydney Marathon, setting an Australian all-comers' record of 2:07:03 to beat his Kenyan compatriot Cosmas Matolo Muteti by just two seconds.

Oceanian record-holder Brett Robinson, who broke his Australian compatriot Rob de Castella’s long-standing area record in Fukuoka last year by running 2:07:31, will lead the domestic contenders.

The field features a total of nine sub-2:06 men, with Geay and Kibet joined by Ethiopia’s Getaneh Molla (2:03:34), Kenya’s Jonathan Korir (2:04:32), Ethiopia’s Abayneh Degu (2:04:53), Kenya’s Abraham Kipkemboi Kiptoo (2:05:04), Morocco’s Othmane El Goumri (2:05:12), Ethiopia’s Amedework Walelegn (2:05:27) and Kenya’s Laban Korir (2:05:41).