The 31-year-old Swede broke the European half-marathon record in September, having already won 10,000m gold at the European Athletics Championships in August.

Almgren then lived up to the anticipation surrounding his marathon debut by finishing in two hours, six minutes and one second in New York - 13 seconds in front of Italy's Yemaneberhan Crippa.

Lesotho's Kamohelo Mofolo finished a further 12 seconds back in third.

Almgren became the first European-born man in 30 years to win the race in New York, after Italy's Giacomo Leone in 1996.

"I just thought, 'I've got the legs today'," said Almgren.

"I'm about to start crying. It's better than anything I could have ever imagined."

In the women's race, Kenya's Sheila Chepkirui claimed her second New York Marathon success.

The 35-year-old finished in 2:24:36, which was six seconds ahead of American Jessica McClain, with Kenya's Hellen Obiri a further second back.

"The last mile was really tricky and I had to be patient because I knew Hellen was really strong," said Chepkirui.

"I had to really push up to the finish line."

The race marked the 50th anniversary of the marathon, which links New York's five boroughs of Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Manhattan.