Israeli-Kenyan Runner Lonah Chemtai Salpeter Comes in 2nd at NYC Marathon
Edited by: Fern Sidman
Israeli pride is on the upswing on Sunday, as it was reported that Lonah Chemtai Salpeter came in at second place (runner up) at the New York City marathon.
The winner for the women’s division of the marathon was Kenyan Sharon Lokedi. She produced a superb tactical performance to win in her first ever race over the distance, as was reported by the Times of Israel.
The 28-year-old Lokedi bided her time after breaking away in a pack with world champion Gotytom Gebreslase of Ethiopia and Israel’s Salpeter with a few miles to go, the report stated.
After Gebreslase was dropped going through Central Park it became a duel between Lokedi and Salpeter.
Salpeter finished second with a time of 2:23:30 and Gebreslase took third place.
Previously, Salpeter won the bronze medal in the marathon at the 2022 World Athletics Championships. At the European Athletics Championships, Salpeter took victory in the 10,000 meters in 2018 and earned a bronze medal in 2022, according to a Wikipedia report.
Her personal best time for the marathon is 2:17:45, which when she ran it in 2020 made her the sixth-fastest woman in history (currently 11th), the second-fastest European all-time, and set a new Israeli national record, as was reported by Wikipedia.org. Chemtai represented Israel at the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Salpeter was born and raised in Kenya as a member of the tribe of the Kalenjin, and grew up in a small village without electricity or running water in West Pokot County in western Kenya, Wikipedia reported.
Salpeter moved in 2008 to Herzliya, Israel, near Tel Aviv, to work as a nanny for a Kenyan diplomat, the NYT reported. Running became an activity to get her out of the house after the day was done. Speaking to the Times, Salpeter said: “It was a hobby. I felt bored in the house so I went jogging in the park with everyone.”
Chemtai met Israeli running coach Dan Salpeter in 2011, and the two fell in love, and married in 2014, as was reported Wikipedia. The couple’s son, Roy, was born in December 2014. The family resided in moshav Yanuv, in central Israel, and now they reside in Shoham in central Israel. Chemtai became an Israeli citizen in March 2016 on account of marriage to an Israeli citizen, eight years after she began residing in Israel, and a few days before the cut-off to qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics, according to the Wikipedia report.
The New York Times reported that in July of this year that when Salpeter crossed the finish line of the World Championship marathon in Eugene, Oregon, in third place, an Israeli flag was draped around her back.
Salpeter, who immigrated to Israel from Kenya, was ecstatic. “I’m so proud to represent my country,” she said after the race.
She was praised by then Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid, as was reported by the NYT. “Lonah’s willpower and determination are a source of pride for Israeli athletics and for the entire State of Israel,” he tweeted.
The NYT reported that Salpeter, 33, had won Israel’s fourth-ever world championship medal and in a distance mostly dominated by runners representing East African countries. She was already the first Israeli to win a major marathon, running away with the gold medal at the Tokyo Marathon in 2020. She was predicted to be one of the favorites to win the New York City Marathon, entering the race with the fastest career marathon time of any competitor.
