FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
John Hancock Announces 2018 Boston Marathon International Elite Field
46 Elite Athletes from 13 Countries
Invited for 122nd Running on April 16
BOSTON, MA, January 11, 2018- In its 33rd year as principal sponsor of the
Boston Marathon, John Hancock today announced the elite field for the 122nd
Boston Marathon on April 16. A complete field list follows.
Six Boston Marathon champions and 17 top U.S. runners will challenge an
exceptional men's and women's international field that includes 23
Olympians. Altogether, the John Hancock Elite Athlete team has won 14
Olympic and IAAF World Championships Marathon medals, as well as more than
100 global marathons including 17 Abbott World Marathon Majors. The field's
success in strategic and tactical championship style racing will prove
critical as they run the world's most historic marathon course from
Hopkinton to Boston.
"We look forward to our 2018 John Hancock Elite Athlete Team joining us on
Patriots' Day to seek the coveted Boston Marathon title," said John Hancock
Chief Marketing Officer Barbara Goose. "Over the past 33 years of our
sponsorship, we have hosted more 800 of the world's best runners from 48
countries, and this year's team ranks with the best of them. Together with
tens of thousands of fans, we'll be cheering for these accomplished
athletes and all participants every step of the way as we all move
#TogetherForward."
"The John Hancock Elite Athlete Team, yet again, is a stunning collection
of talent from around the globe," said Tom Grilk, Chief Executive Officer
of the Boston Athletic Association. "This international field, combined
with the previously announced Americans and defending champions, will make
for a very memorable race day with historic potential. Fewer than 100 days
remain until Patriots' Day, and we eagerly await crowning our next
champions on April 16."
Men's Field Summary
Leading a formidable field of 25 elite men are 2017 Boston and IAAF World
Marathon Champion Geoffrey Kirui of Kenya; two-time Boston champion and
2013 World Championships Marathon silver medalist Lelisa Desisa; and 2016
Boston winner Lemi Berhanu. Desisa and Berhanu, both from Ethiopia, most
recently finished third and fourth, respectively, at the 2017 TCS New York
City Marathon.
Chasing the champions is 2017 World Championships Marathon silver medalist
Tamirat Tola. Last year Tola won the Dubai Marathon and at the 2016 Olympic
Games earned a bronze medal for Ethiopia in the 10,000m.
American Galen Rupp, second in Boston last year, also returns after winning
the 2017 Bank of America Chicago Marathon. Rupp owns two Olympic medals: a
2012 silver in the 10,000m and a 2016 bronze in the marathon. Fellow
American Shadrack Biwott and Kenyan Wilson Chebet are additional top
finishers returning to seek the title. Biwott finished as the second
American and fourth overall last year. Chebet was fifth and has finished as
high as runner-up in Boston. Chebet is a champion of Rotterdam, Honolulu,
and a three-time winner of the Amsterdam Marathon.
Among those making their Boston debuts are several Kenyan men who ran their
personal best times in 2017. Nobert Kigen finished fourth in Seoul and
runner-up in Amsterdam. Evans Chebet was fourth in Tokyo and second in
Valencia. Felix Kandie was second in Seoul and fourth in Berlin. Philemon
Rono won the Toronto Marathon and set the Canadian all-comers record in
2:06:52. Returning to Boston after winning the B.A.A. Distance Medley in
2013 and 2014 is Stephen Sambu, the fifth-place finisher at last year's
Chicago Marathon. Also joining the international field is Dutch Olympian
Abdi Nageeye, who set a national marathon record this past year, and
Canadian Olympians Reid Coolsaet and Eric Gillis. Coolsaet is the second
fastest Canadian marathoner of all time and Gillis most recently placed
tenth at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games Marathon.
Added to the U.S. elite field are Elkanah Kibet, the top American at the
2017 World Championships Marathon and Timothy Ritchie, the 2017 U.S.
National Marathon Champion. They join Rupp, Biwott and the previously
announced U.S. Elite Team of Dathan Ritzenhein, Abdi Abdirahman, Ryan Vail,
Scott Smith and Andrew Bumbalough.
German national marathon record holder Arne Gabius is in the field, as is
South African Olympian Lusapho April and Japanese elites Yuki Kawauchi and
Kentaro Nakamoto. Kawauchi has won over 30 marathons and finished ninth in
the 2017 World Championships Marathon, while Nakamoto was sixth and the
first Japanese finisher at the 2012 Olympic Games Marathon.
Women's Field Summary
On the women's elite team, John Hancock has assembled an accomplished field
of 20 women, ten of whom have personal best times under 2:23:00.
Leading the way is two-time World Championships Marathon gold medalist Edna
Kiplagat of Kenya, who returns to defend her 2017 Boston Marathon title.
Kiplagat is a three-time Abbott World Marathon Majors Series winner and a
champion of marathons in Boston, London, New York City and Los Angeles.
Last year after Boston, she won the silver medal at the World Championships
Marathon and then finished fourth in New York.
Challenging Kiplagat is Bahrain's Eunice Kirwa, the 2016 Olympic Marathon
silver medalist, and Ethiopia's Aselefech Mergia, a London champion and
three-time winner of Dubai. The trio will be joined by 2014 Boston Marathon
champion and course record holder Buzunesh Deba, of Ethiopia, and
countrywoman Mamitu Daska, a two-time winner of Frankfurt who has also
claimed victories in Dubai and Houston.
Caroline Rotich, who won the 2015 Boston Marathon and is a champion of
Prague and Las Vegas Marathons, returns and is joined by countrywoman
Gladys Chesir who makes her Boston debut after finishing runner-up in
Amsterdam last year. With a half marathon personal best of 66:57, Chesir
will be in the chase for the title.
National marathon record holders Kellys Arias of Colombia and Madai Perez
of Mexico will be in the mix, as will Krista Duchene, the second fastest
Canadian marathoner in history. Jessica Augusto of Portugal and Jessica
Draskau Petersson of Denmark - both Olympians - will make their Boston
Marathon debuts.
The previously announced U.S. team includes four of the five fastest U.S.
marathon women of all time: Deena Kastor, Jordan Hasay, Shalane Flanagan
and Desiree Linden. Kastor, the national record holder, is a London and
Chicago champion and earned the bronze medal at the 2004 Olympic Marathon.
Hasay finished third in both Boston and Chicago last year. Flanagan
recently won the TCS New York City Marathon and owns an Olympic silver
medal in the 10,000m. Linden has finished in the top five in seven Abbott
World Marathon Majors and missed winning Boston by just two seconds in
2011.
Joining the U.S. Team are Molly Huddle, who has more than 20 national
titles and the American record in the 5,000m, 10,000m and the 5K; Serena
Burla, who finished 10th and 11th at the 2015 and 2017 IAAF World
Championships Marathon, respectively; Sara Hall, the 2017 U.S. National
Marathon Champion; and Kellyn Taylor, who won a 2015 Pan American bronze
medal in the 5,000m.
The 2018 Boston Marathon marks the 33rd year of John Hancock's landmark
sponsorship of the legendary race. For additional information about the
elite athlete program and sponsorship, please visit
www.johnhancock.com/bostonmarathon/sportspartnerships.html or follow us
@jhboston26 and @johnhancockUSA on Twitter.
2018 Boston Marathon John Hancock Elite Men's Field
Elite Men's Field Country Personal Best Marathon
Tamirat Tola Ethiopia 2:04:11 (Dubai, 2017)
Lemi Berhanu Ethiopia 2:04:33 (Dubai, 2016)
Lelisa Desisa Ethiopia 2:04:45 (Dubai, 2013)
Nobert Kigen Kenya 2:05:13 (Amsterdam, 2017)
Wilson Chebet Kenya 2:05:27 (Rotterdam, 2011)
Evans Chebet Kenya 2:05:30 (Valencia, 2017)
Felix Kandie Kenya 2:06:03 (Seoul, 2017)
Geoffrey Kirui Kenya 2:06:27 (Amsterdam, 2016)
Philemon Rono Kenya 2:06:52 (Toronto, 2017)
Dathan Ritzenhein USA 2:07:47 (Chicago, 2012)
Yuki Kawauchi Japan 2:08:14 (Seoul, 2013)
Abdi Nageeye Netherlands 2:08:16 (Amsterdam, 2017) NR
Lusapho April South Africa 2:08:32 (Hannover, 2013)
Arne Gabius Germany 2:08:33 (Frankfurt, 2015) NR
Kentaro Nakamoto Japan 2:08:35 (Beppu-Oita, 2013)
Abdi Abdirahman USA 2:08:56 (Chicago, 2006)
Galen Rupp USA 2:09:20 (Chicago, 2017)
Reid Coolsaet Canada 2:10:28 (Berlin, 2015)
Ryan Vail USA 2:10:57 (London, 2014)
Stephen Sambu Kenya 2:11:07 (Chicago, 2017)
Eric Gillis Canada 2:11:21 (Toronto, 2014)
Elkanah Kibet USA 2:11:31 (Chicago, 2015)
Timothy Ritchie USA 2:11:56 (Sacramento, 2017)
Shadrack Biwott USA 2:12:01 (New York, 2016)
Scott Smith USA 2:12:21 (Frankfurt, 2017)
Andrew Bumbalough USA 2:13:58 (Tokyo, 2017)
2018 Boston Marathon John Hancock Elite Women's Field
Elite Women's Field Country Personal Best Marathon
Aselefech Mergia Ethiopia 2:19:31 (Dubai, 2012)
Deena Kastor USA 2:19:36 (London, 2006) NR
Edna Kiplagat Kenya 2:19:50 (London, 2012)
Buzunesh Deba Ethiopia 2:19:59 (Boston, 2014) CR
Jordan Hasay USA 2:20:57 (Chicago, 2017)
Shalane Flanagan USA 2:21:14 (Berlin, 2014)
Eunice Kirwa Bahrain 2:21:17 (Nagoya, 2017) NR
Mamitu Daska Ethiopia 2:21:59 (Frankfurt, 2011)
Desiree Linden USA 2:22:38 (Boston, 2011)
Madai Perez Mexico 2:22:59 (Chicago, 2006) NR
Caroline Rotich Kenya 2:23:22 (Chicago, 2012)
Jessica Augusto Portugal 2:24:25 (London, 2014)
Gladys Chesir Kenya 2:24:51 (Amsterdam, 2017)
Serena Burla USA 2:26:53 (Osaka, 2017)
Sara Hall USA 2:27:21 (Frankfurt, 2017)
Molly Huddle USA 2:28:13 (New York City, 2016)
Krista Duchene Canada 2:28:32 (Toronto, 2013)
Kellyn Taylor USA 2:28:40 (Houston, 2015)
Kellys Arias Colombia 2:29:36 (Hamburg, 2016) NR
Jessica Draskau Petersson Denmark 2:30:07 (Chicago, 2015)
NR = National Record
CR = Course Record
About John Hancock and Manulife
John Hancock is a division of Manulife Financial Corporation, a leading
international financial services group that helps people achieve their
dreams and aspirations by putting customers' needs first and providing the
right advice and solutions. We operate primarily as John Hancock in the
United States, and Manulife elsewhere. We provide financial advice,
insurance and wealth and asset management solutions for individuals, groups
and institutions. Assets under management and administration by Manulife
and its subsidiaries were over $1 trillion (US$806 billion) as of September
30, 2017. Manulife Financial Corporation trades as MFC on the TSX, NYSE,
and PSE, and under 945 on the SEHK. Manulife can be found at manulife.com.
One of the largest life insurers in the United States, John Hancock
supports approximately 10 million Americans with a broad range of financial
products, including life insurance, annuities, investments, 401(k) plans,
and college savings plans. We also offer advice through Signator, a network
of independent financial advisors. Additional information about John
Hancock may be found at johnhancock.com.
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