Stephen Sambu speaks after winning his third consecutive Shamrock Shuffle.
Defending champion Stephen Sambu took home his “hat trick” victory and Olympian Kim Conley came out triumphant at the finish line in the 2017 Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle Sunday.
Paralympian and three-time Chicago Marathon champion Amanda McGrory also made a victorious debut in this year’s wheelchair competition.
Sambu’s win marks his third consecutive first place finish in Chicago’s annual kick-off to running season. He finished his 2016 race with the fourth-fastest time in the Shuffle’s history and also came in fifth place at the Chicago Marathon last fall.
He currently holds the world’s best time in the 8K.
Sunday’s race was met with stiff competition for both the men and women’s elite field.
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Sambu faced off against Olympian Diego Estrada, the seventh-fastest American over the half-marathon distance. Estrada came in second place in the race.
Conley battled 2016 runner-up and local elite runner Kristen Heckert.
Olympic bronze medalist and 2005 Chicago Marathon and Shamrock Shuffle champion Deena Kastor was also featured in this year’s event. Kastor is the American record-holder for the event.
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