2023-09-24 10:52:13
Ethiopian Tigst 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).
At 26, Assefa thus becomes the first athlete under 2h12, and signs her second consecutive victory in Berlin, following 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.
Kosgei set his world record just under three years ago in Chicago.
Having entered a marathon for the first time in her career in 2022, 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,” 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 regarding the world record,” she added.
On Sunday, she covered the last kilometers of her marathon at almost 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.
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