By Razeen Gutta
A 2 hours 11 minutes and 53 seconds race time helped Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa break the women’s marathon world record in Berlin on Sunday.
Assefa broke the record, previously held by Kenya’s Brigid Kosgei, by more than two minutes. Kosgei set her time back in 2019 in Chicago; Assefa’s record is the 13th to be set in Berlin.
The 26-year-old also won the race last year in a time of 2:15.37, and was ecstatically surprised to have done it so much faster this time around.
“I am very happy. I wanted to break the marathon world record, but I couldn’t imagine that it would result in a time under 2:12,” she said per BBC.
Aseffa was a former 800m racer and only delved into the world of marathons in April last year.
Double Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge won the men’s race in Berlin for a record fifth time, crossing the finish line in 2:02.42.
The 38-year-old Kenyan was just over one minute longer than his time last year, where he set the men’s record of 2:01.09.
“I was expecting to do the same [break the record], but it did not come. That’s how sport is. Every race is a learning lesson,” he said.
“I’ll put all my experience of my 21 marathons into next year in the Olympics in Paris and try to be the first to win for the third time, but I would also be happy with the podium.”
Pictured above: Tigst Assefa
Image source: @GWR
