NYC Marathon Results: Marcel Hug Beats Daniel Romanchuk by 1.13 Seconds for His Eighth Wheelchair Title
The first championship of marathon Sunday was decided by a push of the wheels: Marcel Hug broke the tape in 1:28:14, just 1.13 seconds ahead of Daniel Romanchuk, in the closest wheelchair finish in the race's history.
The New York City Marathon has its first winner of 2026, and the margin was barely a wheel. Marcel Hug of Switzerland won his eighth New York wheelchair title on Sunday morning, crossing the finish in Central Park in 1:28:14 and edging American Daniel Romanchuk by 1.13 seconds — the closest victory in the event's history, according to the live race coverage.
For 26 miles there was effectively nothing between them. At 30 kilometers both men clocked 1:01:16, with Romanchuk nominally ahead by 0.38 seconds and Britain's David Weir more than three minutes behind in third. At 40 kilometers both clocked 1:23:38, Hug ahead by 0.20 seconds. Hug, 40, nicknamed the Silver Bullet, finally moved past Romanchuk in the last 100 meters and held the gap to the tape.
The title extends one of the great New York racing records. Hug's wins here now run 2013, 2016, 2017, 2021, 2022, 2023, last year and today — eight championships across thirteen years. Romanchuk's run to second carries its own weight: he missed last year's New York race entirely after injuring his shoulder at the Sydney Marathon in a collision with a spectator on the course, and in his return he came within a second of beating the champion.
The wheelchair division pays $50,000 to its winner, and Sunday's race set the terms for everything that follows it: a course record was never really in reach — Hug's own mark is 1:25:26 — because the race became a duel instead of a time trial. The open-division races were still on the course as Hug finished; their files follow as the results are confirmed.
