Tigst Assefa won the Berlin Marathon on Sunday in 2 hours 11 minutes 4 seconds, the third-fastest women’s marathon in history, after a late injury prevented her from breaking the world record.
The 29-year-old Ethiopian, a silver medallist at the Paris Olympics two years ago and the 2026 London Marathon winner, had been on world-record pace for much of the race. She led by a minute at 15km and was still ahead of record schedule at 35km, but then began to show clear discomfort and slowed in the closing stages.
Assefa still broke the Berlin course record of 2:11:53 that she set in 2023, which had also been her personal best. She also improved on her 2:15:41 time from the London Marathon earlier this year.
The women’s world record remains 2:09:56, set by Kenya’s Ruth Chepngetich at the 2024 Chicago Marathon, though that result has been overshadowed by the three-year doping ban she received in 2025.
Race director Mark Milde said: “We have to bow our heads to this performance. She was on a world record course for most of the race but then something happened to her tendon. To finish like this, I’ve never seen something like this. The pain is hard to imagine. With a heavy heart, we saw her set a course record, but it could have been a lot more.”
Ethiopia swept the top five women’s places, with Bedatu Hirpa second and Dera Dida third. In the men’s race, Ethiopia’s Guye Adola won in 2:02:50.
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