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Sharon Lokedi made a stunning marathon debut in 2022, winning the TCS New York City Marathon in 2:23:23 to become just the eighth athlete to win the race in their true 26.2-mile debut. She returned to New York in 2023 to finish on the podium in third before placing as the runner-up at the 2024 Boston Marathon. Later that summer, she narrowly missed a medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics, finishing fourth in the marathon, just four seconds off the podium after stepping in as a late replacement for the Kenyan team.

Lokedi grew up in Kenya’s Kalenjin tribe as the oldest of four children, and it was a long journey to the University of Kansas in the U.S. When she was 14, following the Kenyan presidential election results, her family fled their home village of Burnt Forest, which became the center of the Kenyan crisis and violence due to the population’s conflicting loyalties. For a month, her family lived in silence and fear with no shelter nor steady source of food or possessions. After the conflict ended, they returned to their home safely, and that’s when Lokedi started running four kilometers to and from school each day.

Her passion and talent for running flourished over the next few years, earning her a spot at the University of Kansas, where she studied nursing. While there, Lokedi became a 10-time All-American and won the 10,000-meter NCAA title in 2018. She went on to win her first race as a pro, taking the Carlsbad 5000 title in 15:38. Keeping her ties to her native Kenya, Lokedi has recently built a running foundation at the famed Kapkenda Girls High School.