Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa defended her Berlin Marathon on Sunday, September 24, 2023, and on top of that, she broke Brigid Kosgei’s record that was set in the Chicago Marathon in 2019.

Running in 2:11:53, Assefa became the Berlin Marathon champion again and took more than two minutes off the women’s world record of 2:14:04 set by Kosgei some years ago.

Meanwhile, a large pack of competitors passed the 5km mark at 15:58, while at 10 km, 13 women were still in contact with the lead as they passed through at 31:45.

Assefa opens gap

Assefa and her compatriot, Workenesh Edesa, reached the 15km mark in 47:26, and at this point, the Ethiopian unit managed to open up a gap against Kenya’s Sheila Chepkirui.

Ethiopia’s other representatives, Senbere Teferi, a 2015 world 5000m silver medallist, and Zeineba Yimer were toe-to-toe with Chepkirui at the 15km mark, and additionally, 12 were running inside the world record pace.

At the 16km mark, Assefa was encouraged as her rivals started to fade away, and she threw a 2:59 split. As she hit 17km, Edesa had dropped, and she only had a few male pacemakers to give her company.

At the halfway mark, the Ethiopian was alone in front of the pack that had dropped further back, and she was on track to smash the world record by more than a minute.

She covered the next kilometre in 2:48, the fastest of the race up to that point, as Edesa and Chepkirui struggled to close in on her.

At 25km, Assefa’s split of 1:18:40 was still well inside the world record schedule, while Chepkirui and Edesa were a minute behind, but the two were still in contention for personal best records.

Second-fastest mark

Assefa, composed and tangibly looking assured, completed the next 10km in 31:02 and hit the 35km in 1:49:41. At the 30km mark, her split was 1:34:12, the second-fastest mark in history for that checkpoint, behind Ruth Chepng’etich’s 1:34:01 from the 2022 Chicago Marathon, again.

The eventual champion hit the 40km in 2:05:13, following another 15:32 5km split, putting her on course for a finishing time in the 2:12 range.

She went past the finish line in 2:11:53, while Chepkirui, who was content for second place, finished in 2:17:49. Magdalena Shauri, from Tanzania, came in third in 2:18:41, which is a huge national record.

Leading results

Women
1 Tigst Assefa (ETH) 2:11:53
2 Sheila Chepkirui (KEN) 2:17:49
3 Magdalena Shauri (TAN) 2:18:41
4 Zeineba Yimer (ETH) 2:19:07
5 Senbere Teferi (ETH) 2:19:21
6 Dera Dida (ETH) 2:19:24
7 Workenesh Edesa (ETH) 2:19:40
8 Helen Bekele (ETH) 2:19:44
9 Charlotte Purdue (GBR) 2:22:17