Ethiopian and Kenyan win Boston Marathon
Ethiopian Sisay Lemma sprinted to the front of the pack Monday morning and never looked back in winning the 128th Boston Marathon.
Lemma, a first-time Boston winner, crossed the finish line in 2 hours, 6 minutes and 17 seconds.
Not long after, Hellen Obiri became the first women’s back-to-back champion in Boston since 2005 with a 2:22:37 finish.
Catherine Ndereba repeated in the women’s Boston Marathon in 2004-05.
Obiri, of Kenya, was 8 seconds ahead of Sharon Lokedi at the finish line Monday. Lokedi also is from Kenya.
The tandem separated from the pack in a dead sprint on the extreme downhill 24th mile with what Boston Marathon digital timing recorded as a 4:41 split unofficially, which would be the fastest mile ever recorded in a women’s marathon.
Edna Kiplagat ,a44year-old from Kenya, finished third in the women’s group in 2:23:21.
Lemma, 33, was on pace to break the course record and challenge the worldrecord marathon time of the late Kelvin Kiptum, pushing his lead from the pack to more than two minutes at one point in the race.
The 2023 Valencia Marathon winner, already the fourth-fastest male marathoner in history, slowed over the final 10 miles but was never threatened. He finished 30th in the 2023 Boston Marathon and won the London Marathon in 2021. His finish Monday was the 10th-fastest in Boston Marathon history.
Kenya’s Evans Chebet finished third in the men’s division in 2:07:22, behind second-place Mohamed Esa (2:06:58) of Ethiopia. Chebet, 35, was chasing a third consecutive win in Boston.
Britain’s Eden Rainbow-Cooper, 22, won the women’s wheelchair event in 1:35:11 for her first major marathon victory, while 38-year-old Marcel Hug of Switzerland became a seven-time Boston men’s wheelchair winner.
Hug recovered quickly from a crash into a barricade to break his own course record set in 2023 with a 1:15:33 finish.
NBA
Lakers: Center-forward Anthony Davis said he will be ready for the start of the team’s postseason Tuesday after leaving Sunday’s regularseason finale early due to back spasms.
The Lakers are in the
Western Conference playin tournament as the No. 8 seed and will face the No. 7 New Orleans Pelicans.
It will be a rematch of Sunday’s game, when Los Angeles beat host New Orleans 124-108 despite Davis leaving during the fourth quarter.
Pelicans forward Larry Nance Jr. pushed Davis from behind while Davis jumped for a rebound. The oft-injured Davis later explained his “back just locked up” as a result.
Suns: Sharpshooter
Grayson Allen agreed to a four-year, $70 million contract extension, keeping one of the NBA’s top 3-point threats in Phoenix long-term. Allen, 28, was scheduled to hit free agency in July. He led the league this season in 3point percentage at 46.1. He averaged 13.4 points overall, and was a critical piece of the offense that often lacked All-Stars Bradley Beal and Devin Booker due to injuries. Allen was acquired from Milwaukee in the offseason in a three-team deal that sent Damian Lillard to Milwaukee and
Deandre Ayton to Portland.
League attendance records: The NBA broke regular-season records for total attendance, average attendance and sellouts for the second straight year in 2023-24.
The final numbers released by the league Monday included a total attendance of 22,536,341
(up from 22,234,502 in 2022-23), an average attendance of 18,322 (18,077 last season) and 872 sellouts (791 in 2022-23). Arenas were filled to 98 percent capacity, also an all-time high.
Ten teams sold out every home game: the Heat, Boston, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Golden State, Minnesota, Philadelphia, Phoenix and Sacramento.
NHL
Ducks: Cutter Gauthier, who scored 38 goals this season as Boston College reached the Frozen Four, finally is joining the NHL. He signed a three-year, entrylevel contract with Anaheim on Sunday, ESPN reported. He is expected to make his NHL debut Thursday when the Ducks, who are 14th in the Western Conference, wrap up their season at Vegas.
He was drafted fifth overall by Philadelphia in 2022 but declined to play for the Flyers. Anaheim this year traded his rights to Anaheim.
His 38 goals tied for most by a collegiate player in the past 25 seasons, ESPN reported.