Shalane Flanagan Becomes The First American Woman To Win TCS New York City Marathon In 4 Decades


Shalane Flanagan finished her 47th New York City Marathon stint with flying colors and made history becoming the first American woman to win the sporting event in 40 years on Sunday, November 6.

Michiko Suwa “Miki” Gorman, a Chinese-born American marathoner, won the marathon twice in 1976 and 1977. Flanagan defeated her 35-year-old rival, Mary Keitany of Kenya, who has consecutively won the New York City Marathon in the past years and even set a new world record in April.

Flanagan crossed the finish line posting an unofficial time of two hours, 26 minutes, 53 seconds. She also bagged a new record as the second fastest finish by a U.S. woman marathoner.

The Massachusetts native debuted her marathon career in 2010, also, in New York Marathon and placed second to Kenya’s Edna Kiplagat.

In January, the 36-year-old strongwoman suffered a left hip injury putting a halt to her developing career. Earlier this week, she said that if she were to win her first major marathon this Sunday, it could be her last 26.2-mile cross through the five boroughs at age 36, according to USA Today.

The New York City Marathon began in 1970 with 55 people crossing the finish line. Today, more than 50,000 runners flocked to the Big Apple to participate in one of the world’s biggest marathons.

[Image by Elsa/Getty Images]

Last year, the event set another record for the world’s biggest marathon with 51,394 finishers. This annual sporting event attracts celebrities, fitness enthusiasts, everyday runners and professional athletes from all over the world. It also gathers millions of spectators who want witness the event.

NBA superstar player Kevin Hart, supermodel Karlie Kloss, and former Giant Tiki Barber were one of the celebrity attendees of this year’s marathon amid the trauma after the city suffered its deadliest terrorist attack since 9/11.

In connection with this, the New York City authorities had been preparing for this event all-year round to counter any terror attempt. Streets had been closed down and massive security effort was deployed including hundreds of extra uniformed patrol and plainclothes officers, roving teams of counter-terrorism commandos, K9 dogs and rooftop snipers poised to shoot whenever a threat emerges.

[Featured Image by Elsa/Getty Images]

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