FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
John Hancock Financial Announces 2017
Boston Marathon International Elite Field
44 Elite Athletes from 10 Countries Invited for 121st Running on April 17
BOSTON, MA, Embargoed until 10 a.m. January 12, 2017 — In its 32nd year as
principal sponsor of the Boston Marathon, John Hancock Financial today
announced the elite field for the 121st Boston Marathon on April 17. A
complete field list follows.
Six Boston Marathon champions and 15 top U.S. runners will challenge an
exceptional men's and women's international field. Combined, the team has
won Olympic and IAAF World Championships medals as well as 89 global
marathons, including 22 Abbott World Marathon Majors. There will be 19
Olympians in the field.
Marathon world-record-holder Dennis Kimetto leads a field of nine men who
have lifetime bests under 2:05:30. Kimetto is a Chicago and Tokyo champion
and set the world marathon standard with his 2:02:57 Berlin win in 2014.
Kimetto also holds the world 25K record. Close on his heels will be
seasoned runners and fellow Kenyans Emmanuel Mutai, Patrick Makau and Sammy
Kitwara. Mutai finished second to Kimetto in the 2014 Berlin race, is a
London and Amsterdam champion and earned the silver medal at the 2009 IAAF
World Championships. Makau is a former marathon world-record-holder,
two-time Berlin and Fukuoka winner, and champion in Rotterdam and
Frankfurt. Kitwara has run six half marathons under one hour and is coming
off a December win in Taipei.
2016 Boston Marathon champion Lemi Berhanu Hayle of Ethiopia will work with
countrymen Yemane Tsegay, Dino Sefir and Sisay Lemma as he seeks to defend
his title. Tsegay finished third in Boston last year, claimed the silver
medal at the 2015 IAAF World Championships Marathon and has nine global
marathon wins, including winning Fukuoka this past December. Sefir and
Lemma are new to the Boston course. Sefir holds 2016 wins in Ottawa and
Barcelona. Lemma won Frankfurt and Vienna in 2015.
Four additional Kenyans will be in the mix. Wesley Korir, the 2012 Boston
Marathon champion is joined by Wilson Chebet, a three-time Amsterdam winner
and Rotterdam winner, who has finished second and third in
Boston. Rising talents Geoffrey Kirui, who won the bronze medal in the
10,000m at the 2012 IAAF World Junior Championships and Daniel Salel, the
2016 B.A.A. Half Marathon champion, also seek a podium finish in their
Boston debuts.
Olympians Yared Asmeron of Eritrea, Cutbert Nyasango of Zimbabwe, and Eric
Gillis of Canada also are in the field. Highlights of Asmeron's career
include finishing eighth at the 2004 Olympic Games and fourth at the 2007
IAAF World Championships. Nyasango holds his country's national record and
finished seventh at the 2012 Olympic Games Marathon. Gillis, a three-time
Olympian, most recently placed tenth at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games
Marathon.
U.S. elite men previously announced include 2014 Boston Marathon winner and
2004 Olympic silver medalist Meb Keflezighi, 2016 Olympic Marathon bronze
medalist Galen Rupp, 2016 Olympian Jared Ward, four-time Olympian Abdi
Abdirahman, Shadrack Biwott and Sean Quigley.
Recently added to the U.S. team is Luke Puskedra, who finished fourth at
the 2016 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials and was the top American at the 2015
Chicago Marathon with a fifth place finish.
On the women's side, John Hancock has assembled a talented field with nine
women holding personal best times under 2:23:23. Two-time IAAF World
Championships gold medalist Edna Kiplagat is one of the most accomplished
women in the field. Kiplagat is a London, New York City and Los Angeles
champion and won the Abbott World Marathon Majors Series in 2013-2014. Last
year she finished third in Tokyo and second in Chicago, running a 2:22:36
and 2:23:28 respectively. Countrywomen Gladys Cherono, the 2015 Berlin
winner and 2014 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships gold medalist, joins
Kiplagat, as does 2015 Boston, Prague and Las Vegas champion Caroline
Rotich.
Valentine Kipketer, Joyce Chepkirui, and Brigid Kosgei round out the Kenyan
team. Kipketer is a past winner of Amsterdam and Mumbai; Chepkirui is an
Amsterdam and two-time Honolulu winner; and Kosgei won Honolulu and Milan
in 2016.
From Ethiopia, 2016 champ Atsede Baysa as well as 2014 Boston Marathon
winner and course-record-holder Buzunesh Deba are back to race. They will
be joined by countrywoman and young talent Ruti Aga who won the silver
medal in the 5,000m at the 2012 World Junior Championships and last year
finished second in Vienna and third in Berlin.
Four-time Olympian Jelena Prokopcuka of Latvia, who is a two-time New York
City winner and two-time Boston runner-up returns after placing 12th at the
2016 Olympic Marathon. She will be joined by Rose Chelimo of Bahrain, who
finished eighth at the 2016 Olympic Marathon; three-time Olympian Diane
Nukuri of Burundi who most recently finished fifth at the New York City
Marathon; Kellys Arias, who holds the Colombian national record; and Rachel
Hannah, the fastest Canadian marathoner of 2016.
Previously announced elite women from the U.S. include four-time Olympian
and 10,000m Olympic bronze medalist Shalane Flanagan, who recently finished
sixth at the 2016 Olympic Games Marathon; two-time Olympian Desiree Linden,
who finished seventh at the 2016 Olympic Games Marathon; 2015 Pan Am Games
Marathon silver medalist Lindsay Flanagan; two-time Pittsburgh winner Clara
Santucci; Tallahassee and Twin Cities winner Esther Atkins; and making her
debut is track standout, Jordan Hasay, the 2016 Ten Mile National Champion.
Added to the U.S. women's field are Olympian Blake Russell and Liz Costello
who is making her marathon debut. Russell is a winner of the Twin Cities
Marathon, a four-time top-20 finisher in World Cross Country Championships,
the top American finisher at the 2008 Olympic Games Marathon, and most
recently finished third at the 2015 Los Angeles Marathon. Costello, an
All-American at Princeton University, finished fourth in the 10,000m at the
2015 Pan American Games and last year placed sixth in the 10,000m at the
U.S. Olympic Trials.
"We are excited that the elite race for the 121st running of the Boston
Marathon will showcase many of the most accomplished runners in the world,"
said Rob Friedman, head of Sponsorship and Event Marketing at John Hancock.
"During our 32 years of sponsorship, we have hosted more than 750 elite
athletes from 47 countries, and each year they run a strategic and exciting
race for the spectators in Boston and fans around the globe. We look
forward to cheering on the elites and the thousands of runners who will
join them as they race over the world's most historic marathon course."
"As evidenced by the returning champions and top Americans who have already
been announced, today's release of the full field reveals an incredible
amount of talent heading to Boston," said B.A.A. Chief Executive Officer
Tom Grilk. "Tactics are of crucial importance on the Boston Marathon
course, where the right combination of speed, smarts, and willpower can
help a victor emerge from the world's best runners. April's race will be
exciting to watch and John Hancock is to be commended for bringing the
world's best to Boston once again."
For additional information about the John Hancock Elite Athlete Program and
sponsorship, please visit
www.johnhancock.com/bostonmarathon/sportspartnerships.html or follow us
@jhboston26 on Twitter. A complete field list follows.
2017 Boston Marathon John Hancock Elite Field
Elite Men's Field Country Personal Best Marathon
Dennis Kimetto Kenya 2:02:57 (Berlin, 2014) WR
Emmanuel Mutai Kenya 2:03:13 (Berlin, 2014)
Patrick Makau Kenya 2:03:38 (Berlin, 2011)
Sammy Kitwara Kenya 2:04:28 (Chicago, 2014)
Lemi Berhanu Hayle Ethiopia 2:04:33 (Dubai, 2016)
Yemane Tsegay Ethiopia 2:04:48 (Rotterdam, 2012)
Dino Sefir Ethiopia 2:04:50 (Dubai, 2012)
Sisay Lemma Ethiopia 2:05:16 (Dubai, 2016)
Wilson Chebet Kenya 2:05:27 (Rotterdam, 2011)
Wesley Korir Kenya 2:06:13 (Chicago, 2012)
Geoffrey Kirui Kenya 2:06:27 (Amsterdam, 2016)
Yared Asmeron Eritrea 2:07:27 (Chuncheon, 2011)
Meb Keflezighi USA 2:08:37 (Boston, 2014)
Abdi Abdirahman USA 2:08:56 (Chicago, 2006)
Cutbert Nyasango Zimbabwe 2:09:52 (Prague, 2014) NR
Galen Rupp USA 2:10:05 (Rio de Janeiro, 2016)
Luke Puskedra USA 2:10:24 (Chicago, 2015)
Eric Gillis Canada 2:11:21 (Toronto, 2014)
Jared Ward USA 2:11:30 (Rio de Janeiro, 2016)
Shadrack Biwott USA 2:12:01 (New York, 2016)
Sean Quigley USA 2:13:30 (Fukuoka, 2013)
Daniel Salel Kenya debut
Elite Women's Field Country Personal Best Marathon
Gladys Cherono Kenya 2:19:25 (Berlin, 2015)
Edna Kiplagat Kenya 2:19:50 (London, 2012)
Buzunesh Deba Ethiopia 2:19:59 (Boston, 2014) CR
Shalane Flanagan USA 2:21:14 (Berlin, 2014)
Atsede Baysa Ethiopia 2:22:03 (Chicago, 2012)
Desiree Linden USA 2:22:38 (Boston, 2011)
Jelena Prokopcuka Latvia 2:22:56 (Osaka, 2005) NR
Valentine Kipketer Kenya 2:23:02 (Amsterdam, 2013)
Caroline Rotich Kenya 2:23:22 (Chicago, 2012)
Joyce Chepkirui Kenya 2:24:11 (Amsterdam, 2015)
Rose Chelimo Bahrain 2:24:14 (Seoul, 2016)
Ruti Aga Ethiopia 2:24:41 (Berlin, 2016)
Brigid Kosgei Kenya 2:24:45 (Lisbon, 2016)
Diane Nukuri Burundi 2:27:50 (London, 2015)
Blake Russell USA 2:29:10 (Chicago, 2005)
Lindsay Flanagan USA 2:29:28 (Frankfurt, 2016)
Kellys Arias Colombia 2:29:36 (Hamburg, 2016) NR
Clara Santucci USA 2:29:54 (Boston, 2011)
Rachel Hannah Canada 2:32:09 (Houston, 2016)
Esther Atkins USA 2:33:15 (Boston, 2014)
Liz Costello USA debut
Jordan Hasay USA debut
WR= World Record
NR= National Record
CR= Course Record
About John Hancock Financial and Manulife
John Hancock Financial is a division of Manulife, a leading Canada-based
financial services group with principal operations in Asia, Canada and the
United States. Operating as Manulife in Canada and Asia, and primarily as
John Hancock in the United States, the group of companies offers clients a
diverse range of financial protection products and wealth management
services through its extensive network of employees, agents and
distribution partners. Assets under management and administration by
Manulife and its subsidiaries were $966 billion (US $736 billion) as at
September 30, 2016. Manulife Financial Corporation trades as 'MFC' on the
TSX, NYSE and PSE, and under '945' on the SEHK. Manulife can be found on
the Internet at manulife.com.
The John Hancock unit, through its insurance
companies, comprises one of the largest life insurers in the United States.
John Hancock offers and administers a broad range of financial products,
including life insurance, annuities, investments, retirement plans,
long-term care insurance, college savings, and other forms of
business insurance. Additional information about John Hancock may be found
at johnhancock.com
###
|
