Abdi Nageeye (Cabdi Nageeye)

Who is he?

Abdi Nageeye is a Somali-Dutch long-distance runner (Wikipedia, Abdi Nageeye). He won the marathon silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics and the 2024 New York City Marathon (same source). He holds Dutch records for the 10 km road race, the half marathon and the marathon (same source). See sport in Somalia.

Early life

He was born on 2 March 1989 in Dharwanaaje, Somalia (Wikipedia). At six he was resettled as a refugee in the Netherlands (same source). After four years there he lived with his family in Syria and Somalia (same source). He returned to the Netherlands through Ethiopia and was taken in by a family in Oldebroek (same source). He speaks Somali, Amharic, Arabic, Dutch and English (same source). See Somalis in the Netherlands.

Racing career

He finished eighth at the 2016 Boston Marathon and 11th in the Olympic marathon in Rio that year (Wikipedia). In October 2017 he set a Dutch marathon record of 2:08:16 in Amsterdam (same source). He lowered it to 2:06:17 in Rotterdam in 2019 (same source). He trains partly in Kenya and runs for the NN Running Team (same source).

At the Tokyo Olympics, held in 2021, he won the marathon silver medal in 2:09:58 (same source). In April 2022 he became the first Dutchman to win the Rotterdam Marathon, in 2:04:56 (same source). He placed third at the 2022 New York City Marathon (same source). In 2024 he ran his best time, 2:04:45, in Rotterdam (same source).

New York, 2024

At the Paris Olympics in August 2024 he dropped out with less than two miles left, slowed by hip pain after a collision (NPR, 3 November 2024). Less than three months later, on 3 November 2024, he won the New York City Marathon in 2:07:39 (same source). Evans Chebet of Kenya was six seconds behind (same source). It was his fourth New York race and his first win in a World Marathon Major (same source). He was the first Dutch runner to win in New York (same source). Wikipedia notes he was only the second European man, after Mo Farah, to win a World Marathon Major (Wikipedia).

In short

A refugee child from Somalia who became the Netherlands' record holder in the marathon, an Olympic silver medallist and the 2024 New York City Marathon winner.