Injured Assefa narrowly misses world record in Berlin Marathon

Tigst Assefa hobbled over the line at the Berlin Marathon on Sunday after appearing on course to challenge the women's world record, but she ultimately fell short and won the race. She collapsed after crossing the line and had to be helped from the course.

The 29-year-old, a silver medallist at the Paris Olympics two years ago, entered Berlin off a victory in the 2026 London Marathon. Expectations were high given her recent form and previous course success in Berlin.

Assefa began the race at a fast tempo, building a lead of around a minute by the 15km mark and running ahead of world-record pace at 35km. Known as a fast finisher, she started to experience clear discomfort in the closing stages and her pace dropped, allowing the final kilometres to become a struggle.

Despite that late fade, she still recorded the third-fastest time in history in two hours 11 minutes four seconds. That performance improved on her own Berlin course record of 2:11:53 set in 2023, which had been her previous personal best, and bettered her 2:15:41 at the London Marathon earlier this year.

Ethiopian athletes occupied the top five places in the women's race, with Bedatu Hirpa finishing second and Dera Dida third. The depth of the field was reflected in those placings.

Kenyan athlete Ruth Chepngetich's time of 2:09:56, set at the 2024 Chicago Marathon, remains the world record time, though that result is overshadowed by the three-year doping ban she received in 2025.

In the men's race, Guye Adola won in 2:02:50.