Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa and her compatriot Guye Adola won the Berlin Marathon – a World Athletics Platinum Label road race – on Sunday, clocking times of 2:11:04 and 2:02:50, respectively.
In the women’s race, Assefa improved her personal best by 49 seconds and set a new course record, bettering the mark of 2:11:53 she had set during her 2023 victory in Berlin.
The Paris 2024 Olympic silver medalist and 2025 World Championship silver medalist was long in contention to break the world record of 2:09:56 held by Kenya’s Ruth Chepngetich.
However, she slowed down in the final kilometers after suffering an Achilles tendon injury.
Assefa passed the 10km mark in 30:48, the 20km mark in 1:01:34, and the halfway point in 1:04:57. She reached the 40km mark in 2:03:00 before finishing in 2:11:04.
This victory marks the Ethiopian runner’s third win in Berlin, following her successes in 2022 and 2023. With the time she clocked on Sunday, she also becomes the third-fastest female athlete in marathon history.
Her Ethiopian compatriots Bedatu Hirpa and Dera Dida rounded out the podium, finishing second in 2:16:53 and third in 2:16:55, respectively.
In the men’s race, Guye Adola won his second Berlin Marathon, five years after his first victory. The Ethiopian set a new personal best of 2:02:50, shaving nearly a minute off the time he clocked during his debut at the distance in Berlin in 2017.
Gemechu Dida, also from Ethiopia, finished second in 2:03:19, ahead of Tanzania’s Gabriel Geay, who took third in 2:03:59.
Kenyan runner Sabastian Sawe, initially considered a top contender in the men’s field, withdrew before the race due to injury.
The men’s race remained a tight pack until the halfway mark, which was reached in 1:01:01. Adola then gradually took the lead before pulling away in the final kilometers to secure the win.
The Berlin Marathon is renowned for its fast course. Thirteen world records – across both men’s and women’s events – have been set there since the race’s inception.
The 52nd edition of the Berlin Marathon took place on Sunday, September 27, 2026, on the streets of the German capital.
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