Romanchuk wins men's wheelchair race at NYC Marathon, Scaroni wins women's event

NEW YORK (AP) — Marcel Hug's three-year streak as New York Marathon men's wheelchair champion is over after Daniel Romanchuk won the race on Sunday.

The Swiss star, nicknamed the Silver Bullet, had won 16 straight marathons, including a gold medal at this year's Paris Paralympics. He also won the Chicago Marathon a few weeks ago.

Susannah Scaroni won the women’s wheelchair race by blowing past the field. It was her second time winning, also taking the 2022 race.

It's the first time in the history of the race that both the men's and women's wheelchair events were won by Americans.

Hug became the first para-racer to win the Abbott World Marathon Majors series title by coming first in all six marathons last year — Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York.

The 38-year-old Hug was in the lead pack Sunday heading into Manhattan before falling off the pace. Romanchuk said a pothole on First Ave. caused some issues for some of the competitors.

It then became a three-man race between Romanchuk, David Weir and Tomoki Suzuki. The trio came into the last mile within a second of each other before Romanchuk, who also won this race in 2018 and 2019, pulled away to win in 1 hour, 36 minutes, 31 seconds.

“I know most of the other racers pretty well, really just try and completely empty the tank for the final mile,” Romanchuk said. “It's amazing.”

Weir, who was runner up in 2021 as well as winning the title in 2010, finished 5 seconds behind. Suzuki was third at 1:36.43.

Hug finished fourth, 3:38 behind the winner.

Scaroni beat another American, Tatyana McFadden, winning the race by more than 10 minutes in 1:48.05.

“Always so special to be here in New York City,” Scaroni said. “I woke up feeling great today, never take it for granted. Coming up the last hill we had a tailwind today. So I had a little more energy then I normally do at that hill.”

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A competitor in the men's wheelchair division makes his way across the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge during the New York City Marathon, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Tomoki Suzuki, center, of Japan, pushes off at the start of men's wheelchair dividing during the New York City Marathon, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)

Tomoki Suzuki, center, of Japan, pushes off at the start of men's wheelchair dividing during the New York City Marathon, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)

AT&T anticipates earnings growth over the next three years thanks to the momentum of 5G and fiber services.

The company also announced Tuesday that it expects its improved financial performance to support more than $40 billion of anticipated shareholder returns through dividends and stock buybacks over the same time. This includes an initial $10 billion stock repurchase that it expects to complete by the end of 2026.

“Over the last four years, we’ve achieved durable and profitable subscriber growth, generated attractive returns on network investment, and strengthened our balance sheet,” AT&T CEO John Stankey said in a statement.

Shares of AT&T rose about 3% before the market open.

The Dallas company said that it's looking to expand its fiber broadband network to more than 50 million locations by the end of 2029. It is actively working to exit its legacy copper network operations across the large majority of its wireline footprint by the end of of that year as well.

AT&T said that it expects to have largely completed the modernization of its 5G wireless network with open technology by 2027, with deep mid-band 5G spectrum covering more than 300 million people by the end of 2026. The company said that the network will be able to support super-fast download speeds and serve as a platform for new product and GenAI innovation.

AT&T now anticipates 2024 adjusted earnings in a range of $2.20 to $2.25 per share. Its prior outlook was for $2.15 to $2.25 per share.

Analysts polled by FactSet expect full-year earnings of $2.21 per share.

For 2025, AT&T is calling for adjusted earnings of $1.97 to $2.07 per share, excluding DirecTV. It foresees adjusted earnings per share accelerating to double-digit percentage growth in 2027.

Free cash flow is expected to total more than $16 billion next year, excluding DirecTV. AT&T predicts annual growth of approximately $1 billion, resulting in free cash flow of more than $18 billion in 2027.

AT&T sold a 30% stake of DirecTV to private equity firm TPG in 2021 for $16.25 billion. It is now in the process of selling its remaining 70% stake in DirecTV to TPG for about $7.6 billion, which is expected to close next year.

FILE - The company logo hangs over the door to a AT&T telephone store, Feb. 22, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, file)