Ethiopian Tigst Assefa breaks the women’s world record at the Berlin Marathon

Tigst Assefa not only broke the world record at the women’s marathon in Berlin on Sunday, she actually broke it by beating it by more than two minutes, becoming the first woman to complete a marathon in under 2 hours and 12 minutes finished.

The 26-year-old Ethiopian, an 800-meter specialist who was running only her third marathon, finished on the flat inner-city route in 2 hours, 11 minutes and 53 seconds. She surpassed the 2:14:04 mark set by Brigid Kosgei in Chicago in 2019 and was almost six minutes faster than second place finisher, Kenya’s Sheila Chepkirui (2:17:49). Tanzania’s Magdalena Shauri came third in 2:18:41, with a total of eight women finishing under the 2:20 mark. Annie Frisbie was the top American runner, finishing 17th in 2:27:02.