An injured Tigst Assefa hobbled over the line at the Berlin Marathon on Sunday after looking set to smash the women’s world record.
The Ethiopian still won with the third-fastest time in history in two hours 11 minutes four seconds.
But the 29-year-old, a silver medallist at the Paris Olympics two years ago, had been cruising to a new record before fading in the final stages.
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.
Assefa, the 2026 London Marathon winner, started rapidly and led the field by a minute at the 15km mark. She was ahead of the record pace at 35km and is a renowned fast finisher – but began to suffer clear discomfort and her pace slowed.
However she still broke the Berlin course record of 2:11:53 that she set in 2023 – which was also her previous personal best.
In addition, she improved on her time of 2:15:41 at the London Marathon earlier this year.
The top five finishers were all from Ethiopia, with Bedatu Hirpa second and Dera Dida third.
Guye Adola – another Ethiopian – won the men’s race with a time of 2:02:50.
