Strong turnout for NY marathon despite Olympics

NEW YORK - A field packed with 2024 Olympians will descend on the year's final marathon Major in New York on Nov 3, with surprisingly few citing fatigue to opt out after the Paris Games this past summer.

The defending men's champion Tamirat Tola of Ethiopia and Kenyan women's champion Hellen Obiri, who took gold and bronze in Paris respectively, will be among 29 Paris Olympians and Paralympians at the starting line.

"What I anticipated - and we didn't really have - was people who signed on to run the race and then said, 'You know what, I'm too beat up and I'm not coming'," said Sam Grotewold, general manager of professional athletes for organisers New York Road Runners.

"We didn't have that attrition like we would typically expect, especially in an Olympic year."