American Meb Keflezighi Wins New York Marathon

Meb Keflezighi's victory in the New York marathon Sunday (Nov. 1) was the biggest men's marathon triumph by an American in at least seven years. Born in Eritrea, Keflezighi came to the U.S. with his family when he was 12. He surpassed another naturalized American, Moroccan-born Khalid Khannouchi, as the top U.S. men's marathon runner in 2004, when Keflezighi earned the Olympic silver medal in Athens.

But Americans have won few major marathons recently, even on native soil. Among the three major U.S. marathon events -- Boston, New York and Chicago -- Keflezighi's victory was only the fourth by a U.S. runner since 2000. Deena Kastor won in Chicago in 2005, while Khannouchi, the former men's world record-holder, was the Chicago winner in 2000 and 2002.

The 1990s were even worse, as no Americans won in either New York or Boston, while only Kristy Johnston (1994) and Linda Somers (1992) triumphed in Chicago. Keflezighi was the first American man to win in New York since Alberto Salazar in 1982. No woman has won the New York Marathon since Miki Gorman in 1977. The last U.S. victories in Boston came in 1985 (Lisa Larsen Weidenbach) and 1983 (Greg Meyer).

The Olympics and World Championships tell a similar story. Frank Shorter (1972) is the only American man to win an Olympic marathon gold medal since 1908. Keflezighi's silver medal in 2004 was the first U.S. Olympic marathon medal of any kind since Shorter's runner-up finish in 1976. American Joan Benoit won the first Olympic women's marathon in 1984, but Kastor's 2004 bronze is the only U.S. women's medal since. Marianne Dickerson, who took the silver in 1983, is the only American woman to win a World Championship marathon medal, while the men possess just two: Mark Plaatjes' gold in 1993 and Steve Spence's bronze in 1991.

Will the next ten years be any brighter for U.S. marathon runners? At the moment, the 34-year-old Keflezighi remains the top American hope. American runners haven't been close to medals at either the Olympics or World Championships the past two years, although Keflezighi missed the Beijing Games due to injury. Other U.S. hopes include Ryan Hall, who was tenth in Beijing, third in Boston this year and fourth in New York Sunday, and Dathan Ritzenhein, who finished ninth in the 2008 Olympics and an impressive third at the 2009 World Half Marathon Championships. On the women's side, Kara Goucher was third in both New York in 2008 and in Boston this year before placing tenth in the World Championships, just ahead of fellow American Desiree Davila in 11th.

Meb Keflezighi Photo: Mike Stobe/Getty Images