Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa claimed her third Berlin Marathon title on Sunday, clocking a personal best of 2:11:04 following a world record attempt that remained on track until the closing kilometres.
Returning to the course where she won in 2022 and set the then-world record of 2:11:53 in 2023, Assefa entered the race as the clear favourite.
The Paris 2024 medallist had already broken the women-only marathon world record in London earlier this year, running 2:15:41, and arrived in Berlin targeting Ruth Chepngetich’s outright mark of 2:09:53 from Chicago 2024.
With male pacemakers setting the tempo, Assefa established an early lead, passing 5K in 15:30 and 10K in 30:48, almost exactly on world record pace. By 15K, she had opened a gap of more than a minute over defending champion Rosemary Wanjiru of Kenya, who led the chasing group.
Assefa reached halfway in 1:04:57, one second inside the target split, before passing 30K in 1:32:15, putting her on course for a projected finish of 2:09:45.
Assefa remained on course to challenge the world record deep into the race, but her hopes faded over the final two kilometres as she started visibly limping and her pace slowed.
Despite missing the world record by 68 seconds, Assefa improved her previous personal best by 49 seconds and recorded the third-fastest women’s marathon in history.
She led an Ethiopian podium and top-five sweep, finishing ahead of Bedatu Hirpa (2:16:53) and Dera Dida (2:16:55) in second and third respectively. Her victory came at the 52nd edition of the Berlin Marathon, whose famously fast course winds through the German capital before finishing at the iconic Brandenburg Gate.
