The reigning men’s and women’s marathon world champions will line up at the same start line on 30 August when the TCS Sydney Marathon presented by ASICS hosts what organizers are calling the strongest elite field in the race’s history.
It is the first time the event has secured both world champions in the same year. The breakthrough comes off the back of Sydney’s promotion to the Abbott World Marathon Majors in 2025, which placed the race alongside Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago, New York and Cape Town as the seventh and eighth Major, lifting its international profile sharply.
Tanzania’s Alphonce Simbu, 33, leads the men’s race. Simbu won gold at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, becoming the first Tanzanian to claim a world title in any track-and-field event. He owns a personal best of 2:02:47 and has finished second at Boston in both 2025 and 2026. Sydney will be his debut on the course.
Kenya’s Peres Jepchirchir headlines the women’s race. The Olympic and reigning World champion has won Boston, London and New York, and her 2:14:43 personal best is the fastest in the field.
A field built for course records
The current course records, set in 2025, are 2:06:06 for men and 2:18:22 for women. Both look likely to fall. Nineteen men in the field have run faster than 2:06:06, including fourteen under 2:05:00 and three under 2:03:00. Among the women, five have gone faster than the existing course record, and two have broken 2:17:00.
Sisay Lemma of Ethiopia, a former Boston and London champion, arrives with the fastest personal best in the men’s race at 2:01:48. Kenya’s Timothy Kiplagat, who ran 2:02:55 at the 2024 Tokyo Marathon, and Vincent Ngetich, a three-time Abbott World Marathon Major podium finisher, fill out the top tier. Hagos Gebrhiwet of Ethiopia, the second-fastest 5,000m runner in history and an Olympic medallist on the track, will make his marathon debut.
The entire 2025 men’s podium also returns. Defending champion Hailemaryam Kiros of Ethiopia ran 2:06:06 last year, the fastest marathon ever recorded by a man on Australian soil. Runner-up Addisu Gobena and third-placed Tebello Ramakongoana of Lesotho, who has since lowered his personal best to 2:04:18 at Boston, both come back.
In the women’s race, Kenya’s Irine Cheptai and Magdalena Shauri headline the chase pack. Cheptai, a Tokyo 2020 Olympian and 2022 Commonwealth Games silver medallist over 10,000m, won the 2024 Hamburg Marathon on her debut before taking third at Chicago later that year in a 2:17:51 personal best. Shauri, the Tanzanian record holder, finished third at the 2025 Chicago Marathon.
Three women in the field have already won marathons in 2026: Uganda’s Stella Chesang at Osaka, Ethiopia’s Ruti Aga at Xiamen, and Ethiopia’s Haven Hailu at Seoul, where she crossed in 2:19:09. Kenya’s Vivian Cheruiyot, a four-time Olympic medallist, adds further depth after finishing fifth at London in 2025.
Australians chase the richest prize purse in the country’s history
The Australian Marathon Championships will be contested within the race, with the largest prize pool ever offered to Australian marathoners. Andy Buchanan, the Australian record holder, makes his Sydney debut. He will be joined by 2025 World Athletics Championships representatives Tim Vincent and Liam Boudin, Sydney local Tom Do Canto, and Michael Roeger, the marathon world record holder in the T46 para classification.
The women’s domestic field features Tokyo Olympian Ellie Pashley and 2025 Melbourne Marathon winner Caitlin Scott.
Race Director Wayne Larden said the program signals a shift in what the event can offer. “For the first time in the event’s history, both reigning World Champions will toe the same start line, on the same day, in the same city,” he said. “Our domestic athletes will line up against the best in the world, competing for the richest prize purse in the history of the Australian Marathon Championships.”
Jane Flemming OAM, President of Australian Athletics, framed the day as a long-term play for the sport. “Every young Australian who lines the streets of Sydney on 30 August watching the world’s best marathoners race past them, is a potential future champion,” she said. “The TCS Sydney Marathon is not just a race, it is a recruitment ground for the next generation of Australian marathon runners.”
NSW Minister for Sport, Jobs and Tourism Steve Kamper pointed to the city itself as the draw. “The world’s best runners are coming to Sydney, and they’re coming because this is the most beautiful marathon course on the planet,” he said.
The TCS Sydney Marathon is the only remaining participant legacy of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and the largest marathon in Australia, drawing entrants from more than 117 countries. Since inception, it has raised more than 36 million dollars for charity.
The 2026 race will be held on Sunday 30 August.
Full Elite Fields
Elite Men
Sisay Lemma 🇪🇹 2:01:48
Alphonce Simbu 🇹🇿 2:02:47
Timothy Kiplagat 🇰🇪 2:02:55
Vincent Ngetich 🇰🇪 2:03:13
Dawit Wolde 🇪🇹 2:03:48
Leul Gebresilase 🇪🇹 2:04:02
Tebello Ramakongoana 🇱🇸 2:04:18
Seifu Tura 🇪🇹 2:04:29
Gilbert Kibet 🇰🇪 2:04:31
Hailemaryam Kiros 🇪🇹 2:04:35
Chimdessa Debele 🇪🇹 2:04:44
Enock Kinyamial 🇰🇪 2:04:46
Chalu Deso 🇪🇹 2:04:53
Kennedy Kimutai 🇰🇪 2:04:56
Addisu Gobena 🇪🇹 2:05:01
Chala Regassa 🇪🇹 2:05:06
Ibrahim Hassan 🇩🇯 2:05:20
Belay Tilahun 🇪🇹 2:05:22
Jemal Yimmer (Mekonen) 🇪🇹 2:05:48
Andy Buchanan 🇦🇺 2:06:22
Melaku Belachew 🇪🇹 2:06:30
Ethan Shuley 🇺🇸 2:07:14
Kosei Shiraishi 🇯🇵 2:08:42
Tim Vincent 🇦🇺 2:09:40
Liam Boudin 🇦🇺 2:10:28
Tom Do Canto 🇦🇺 2:11:14
Yudai Fukuda 🇯🇵 2:11:16
Yoshihiro Maeda 🇯🇵 2:11:56
James Nipperess 🇦🇺 2:15:03
Fraser Darcy 🇦🇺 2:17:24
Michael Roeger 🇦🇺 2:18:53
Elite Women
Peres Jepchirchir 🇰🇪 2:14:43
Irine Cheptai 🇰🇪 2:17:51
Magdalena Shauri 🇹🇿 2:18:03
Ruti Aga 🇪🇹 2:18:09
Stella Chesang 🇺🇬 2:18:26
Vivian Cheruiyot 🇰🇪 2:18:31
Shure Demise 🇪🇹 2:18:34
Haven Hailu (Desse) 🇪🇹 2:19:09
Sharon Chelimo 🇰🇪 2:19:33
Joyce Tele 🇰🇪 2:19:50
Meseret Abebaayahau 🇪🇹 2:19:50
Aberu Ayana 🇪🇹 2:20:20
Waganesh Mekasha 🇪🇹 2:20:26
Azmera Gebru 🇪🇹 2:20:48
Jackline Cherono 🇰🇪 2:21:14
Fikrte Wereta 🇪🇹 2:21:32
Biruktayit Degefa 🇺🇸 2:21:34
Melody Julien 🇫🇷 2:25:01
Kaoutar Farkoussi 🇲🇦 2:25:12
Priscah Cherono 🇰🇪 2:25:17
Mizuki Nishimura 🇯🇵 2:25:54
Ellie Pashley 🇦🇺 2:26:21
Caitlin Scott (nee Adams) 🇦🇺 2:30:26
Rebecca Lowe 🇦🇺 2:30:50
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