The women’s marathon world record was shattered this Sunday late morning in Berlin. Ethiopia’s Tigist Assefa set a time of 2:11:53, beating Kenya’s Brigid Kosgei’s previous record by more than two minutes. She took the opportunity to sign her second consecutive victory at the Berlin marathon.
Ethiopian Tigist Assefa smashed the women’s marathon world record late Sunday morning in Berlin, in 2h11:53, lowering the previous best mark of Kenyan Brigid Kosgei by more than two minutes (2h14:04) set in Chicago , a little less than three years ago. At 26, she became the first athlete under 2h12, and signed her second consecutive victory in Berlin, after her success last year in 2h15:37. At the time, she had set the record on the Berlin course, which is conducive to world records.
The third marathon of his career
Having entered a marathon for the first time in her career in 2022, Tigist Assefa has so far completed three races over 42.195 km: her first attempt in Riyadh in March 2022 finished in 2h34:01, then she surprised in Berlin in September. An 800 meter specialist at the start of her career (5th in her series at the Rio Olympic Games in 2016, personal best at 1:59.24 in Lausanne at the beginning of July 2014), she moved to road races in 2018, first on 10 km, then half marathon then marathon.
“Last year’s race was an unexpected success for me. I think I can run even faster on Sunday. An improvement would be a success for me,” Tigist Assefa explained on Friday two days before the Berlin race. “A lot of things can happen in a race. I want to concentrate on improving my record but I’m not thinking about the world record,” she added.
On Sunday, she covered the last kilometers of her marathon almost at the same pace as Eliud Kipchoge, holder of the men’s world record (2h01:09) and winner on Sunday for the fifth time under the Brandenburg Gate.