Benson Kipruto

Benson Kipruto grew up in Tolilet, a remote village in Kenya's Nandi County, in a family that relied on subsistence agriculture. His older brother is the marathon runner Dickson Chumba, but Kipruto took his time moving up the ranks, not recording a sub-2:10 marathon until 2018 at age 27. His first big win came at the 2021 Boston Marathon, held in October due to the pandemic. He pulled away in the late stages to take the title, becoming the only man ever to claim a Boston victory in autumn. A win at the 2022 Chicago Marathon followed, and then a dominant performance at the 2024 Tokyo Marathon where he ran a course record of 2:02:16, beating defending champion Eliud Kipchoge. That result earned him Olympic selection, and he delivered in Paris with a bronze medal. His 2025 New York City Marathon win was the closest finish the event has ever seen: 2:08:09, edging Alexander Mutiso by just 0.16 seconds. That victory made Kipruto the first man to win four different World Marathon Majors.