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Larry Eder
Guest
Andreas Almgren of Sweden won the 2026 TCS New York City Marathon on Sunday, November 1, 2026.
This was Andreas Almgren’s debut at the distance, and this was Sweden’s first winner at the New York City Marathon.
The last time a European Male Athlete won the TCS New York City Marathon was in 2024 with Abdi Nageeye of the Netherlands; before that, it was Giacomo Leone of Italy in 1996.
News that a European won the New York City Marathon is making the rounds, and Andreas Almgren must be exhausted from all the interviews!
This piece has two goals: 1. To give you some appreciation for this athlete and his development, and 2. To remind you, dear readers, that there is really no such thing as an “overnight sensation” in the marathon. You do not win the NYC Marathon without a consistent workload, focus, an appreciation for nutrition, and a sports-warrior approach to racing.
When I interviewed Andreas Almgren at the 2026 TCS NYC Marathon presser, I was the very last interview. I had one minute, and Andreas was tired. We used 59 seconds well…
The young Swede started out as an 800-meter runner, running 1:45.59 (2015) outdoors and 1:45.65 indoors (2014), remarkably consistent! In 2019, Andreas was on a Swedish 4x400m team at the European Team Championships. Andreas spent much of the 2015-2018 period in the 200 m. The high-quality work needed for high performance in the Men’s 800 meters can cause injuries in some middle-distance runners. For example, Andreas Almgren had a navicular stress fracture in 2016 and meniscus issues in 2021.
Andreas Almgren ran his 1,500 m PB of 3:32.00 in 2023. Andreas was working full-time through 2025.
Early in 2024, Andreas Almgren ran a fine 26:52.87, taking third to Grant Fisher (26:52.04) and Nico Young (26:52.72, collegiate record).
At Rome 2024, Andreas Almgren took silver in the 5,000m at the European Athletics Champs, behind Norway’s Jacob Ingebrigtsen. Right after the Rome Champs, Andreas aggravated a shinbone (Tibia) stress injury. This Tibia injury would force Almgren out of the Paris 2024 Olympics.
His first race back from injuries was in December 2025, at the SPAR European Athletics Cross Country Championships, where he took fifth in the senior men’s race, won by Jacob Ingebrigtsen, with Italy’s Yemane Crippa in silver and Spain’s Thierry Ndikumwenayo in bronze. The Swede delivered a strong, tough performance and showed he was on his way back to full fitness.
Andreas Almgren shook up Swedish track fans with a fine 12:44.27 in the 5,000 meters, a new Swedish record, at the Bauhaus-Galen Diamond League on June 15, 2025! Andreas set a new Swedish National record and a New European Athletic record!
Andreas Almgren (SWE) wins the Men’s 5000m in a time of 12:44.27, setting a new European Record, at the BAUHAUS-Galan in Stockholm, part of the Wanda Diamond League, on Sunday, June 15, 2025. Photo by Diamond League AG.
In Tokyo, at the World Championships (September 14, 2025), Europe led the 10,000m with three medals: Jimmy Gressier in gold, Andreas Almgren in bronze, and Yomif Kejelzack in silver. I was impressed by how Andreas kept himself in the race, out-kicking the Americans and reminding many that this young Swede, a former 800m runner and WA Junior 800m bronze medalist (2014), was moving to the big time! Andreas Almgren raced the finest 25 lappers in the world and finished in the top three! 10,000m championship races are run in the heat and humidity of the Summer or late Summer. Big times early in the season mean little; you must know how to race, and that comes only with experience.
The Summer of 2026 was big for Andreas. Almgren was amazing! At the 2026 European Athletics Championships, held in Birmingham, England, Andreas took gold in the 10,000m. It was not the time, which set a new Meet record, breaking the former record set 48 years ago (1978) by Martti Vainio of Finland (27:30.99); it was how he did it.
After a pedestrian first kilometer, Andreas took off and did not look back, running eight-plus kilometers by himself. Andreas Almgren won the EA Champs in 27:33.44. What did we learn about Mr. Almgren from this European win? That Andreas could take a risk and push it until the end impressed many of his fans.
The newly crowned European Athletics 10,000-meter champ next ran the World Athletics Road Running Championships in the half marathon! On September 20, 2026, Andreas Almgren ran with the lead pack as they hit the 5k in 13:57, the 10k in 27:53, and the race got heated by 15k in 41: 47, when Nicholas Kipkorir, Andreas Almgren, Tadesse Worku, and Joshua Cheptegei took off. At 20k, in 55:20, Nicholas Kipkorir, Andreas Almgren, and Joshua Cheptegei dropped Tadesse Worku. At six hundred meters to go, Joshua Cheptegei was dropped as Nicholas Kipkorir led, with the Swede on his shoulder. Using his 800m speed, Almgren held his place until he could see the finish, but Nicholas Kipkorir overtook him, putting five seconds in a short distance between the Swede and the Kenyan over the short distance.
Andreas Almgren prepared well for the TCS NYC Marathon. Andreas ran 145-150 miles a week for training. He spoke to Marathon Handbook about his training. We break down the themes:
Almgren used a Heat Chamber, where he ran for 50 minutes in heat at 38 centigrade (100 F) and 60 percent humidity. His scientific training had him monitor core temperature to track heat-tolerance gains.
He used double threshold sessions, such as 50-minute morning runs at his first Lactate Threshold (LT1). His PM session would be 16 x 1k, 5 x 2k, followed by 10 x 400m.
Most of his runs allowed him to recover from the tough days.
His long runs, done on Saturdays, included specific tempo work or long progressions a simulate race conditions and test his ability to run race pace under serious fatigue.
Andreas Almgren used focus, tactics, and controlled aggression to win his first marathon. Almgren revealed himself in the presser, telling the media he would run “with the lead group as long as I could.” In my interview, Andreas made it clear he would give it all he had or collapse.
The NYC Marathon is not a course for the faint of heart. The challenges of the five-borough race include hills at a time when everyone is fatigued, after a tough pace, and then it’s time to fight for the title. Andreas prepared well, with tough long runs, double thresholds, and heat-chamber workouts (I first recall such heat-chamber workouts used by the late Bill McChesney as he prepared for the 1980 Olympic Trials 5,000 meters).
Andreas Almgren, SWE, George Mills, GBR, after the 3,000m heats, photo by European Athletics /Apeldoorn2025
The lead pack hit the halfway mark in 1:04:04, and the pack didn’t truly drop until 30k; by then, it was Benson Kipruto, Yemane Crippa, and the Swede in his debut. I was surprised to see Benson Kipruto in the mix, as he had been dealing with injuries, but Benson, a tough and worthy opponent, was there.
So was Italy’s Yemane Crippa, who had battled Andreas Almgren countless times in cross-country, track, and road races. Both Crippa and Almgren exemplify Europe’s homegrown talent and excitement.
And then, there were two…
Yemane Crippa and Andreas Almgren had about two miles to figure out who was who, and Almgren, who admitted post-race that the fatigue at 20 miles to 32 kilometers was memorable, decided to move farther away from the finish. He was tired. Crippa was tired.
Yemane Crippa began to drop in the last mile, where Andreas Almgren, with his 800m speed, once again built some serious real estate, like 13 seconds in the final mile and bits.
Andreas Almgren of Sweden won his first marathon in 2:06:0!, a first for a Swedish athlete. Yemane Crippa took second in 2:06:14, and a fast-charging Kamohelo Mofolo, from Lesotho and training with McKirdy Trained, grabbed third in 2:06:26 from a fatigued Benson Kipruto.
Andreas Almgren felt tired at 32k, and he was not sure why. He told the media he thought he would feel better, then added, “With 5k left, I started feeling like it’s pretty easy to respond now to the moves…somewhere around there, I felt like, okay, this might be my day actually.”
The day was more than okay. But, dear readers, do not take it seriously that Andreas Almgren left anything to chance. His carbohydrate loading was fascinating (more research needed by me, so watch for a separate column); his decade-plus time of dedication, in both training and mental focus, paid off. The leg speed is his legacy as well; Coach Don Riggs at San Jose State University called it “reinforcing the neuromuscular loop.” That means that an elite distance athlete is ready to kick at any time, no matter what the fatigue load.
Andreas Almgren did not Just Do it. He Just Dominated it. What a spectacular race on a near-perfect day for running!
Andreas Almgren wins 2026 NYC Marathon, photo by Kevin Morris for NYCM
Indeed, on November 1, 2026, Andreas Almgren of Sweden made history by winning the 2026 TCS New York City Marathon, and it was a very good day for Sweden and a very good day for a certain Swede and his lovely family.
We congratulate Andreas Almgren and thank him for his patience with my questions!
Special thanks to Stina Funke for giving me time to interview Andreas Almgren!
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