George, 30, managed to squeak across the line just a tenth of a second clear of a chasing pack of 13 competitors led by Australian Kurt Fearnley and South Africa's Ernst Van Dyk.

Just two-tenths of a second separated the top-11 finishers, with George registering a time of
1 hour 32min 12sec in a dramatic finish in the Windy City, which saw the Chicago native claim his fourth win at the event and his first since 2006.

"This is the biggest pack that we've ever had in Chicago," said George, who has a T53 100 metres gold medal from the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games.

"I didn't know what was going to go on.

"You don't want to look back to see where anyone is.

"You just want to put your head down and hope nobody passes you.

"I love Chicago.

"I love the support that this race gets.

"It's one of the highlights of the year."

Tatyana McFadden reigned supreme in Chicago for the fourth year in a row ©Getty Images



McFadden is another athlete who appears to enjoy the streets of the American city as she powered to a fourth consecutive win at the event and her fifth in six years.

The 25-year-old three-time Paralympic champion clocked a time of 1:44:50 to finish comfortably ahead of Switzerland's Manuela Schär and fellow American Amanda McGrory.

The win represents McFadden's seventh straight marathon win, which includes her historic Grand Slam in 2013 when she became the first athlete in history - able bodied or disabled - to win marathons in Chicago, Boston, London and New York.

"I'm feeling on top of the world right now," said McFadden, who began the year with a silver medal in cross-country skiing at the Sochi 2014 Winter Paralympic Games.

"That race made me really, really nervous.

"I really took off around mile four, and that was really gutsy.

"Chicago is absolutely amazing.

"It's a really, really strong field and it's only getting faster.

"I'm really proud of my team mates as well."

There was further American success in the handcycle race in Chicago as David Neumer led a clean-sweep of the medals ahead of Nick Koulchar and Toran Gaal.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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