Ethiopian marathoner Tigist Assefa shocked the running world by running a 19-minute personal best and finishing with the third-fastest women’s marathon time in history.
It was also a fast women’s race. By midway, they seemed to be chasing Brigid Kosgei’s 2:14:04 world record.
Assefa, a 28-year-old Olympic 800-meter semifinalist on the track in 2016, shocked the running world by running a 19-minute personal best and finishing with the third-fastest women’s marathon time in history.
Only Brigid Kosgei’s 2019 world record of 2:14:04 and Paula Radcliffe’s 2003 record of 2:15:25 are ahead of Assefa on the all-time list.
Assefa also broke the women’s course record in Berlin by outrunning the 2:18:11 mark set by Kenya’s Gladys Cherono in 2018.
Keira D’Amato who put herself in a position to break her American record ended up running the second-fastest time of her career.
D’Amato, a 37-year-old mother of two from Virginia, gave it a valiant effort, but she ultimately had to settle for a sixth-place, 2:21:48 showing in the wake of Ethiopia’s Tigist Assefa’s surprise victory in 2:15:37.
Third fastest time ever ✔️
World lead ✔
Ethiopian record ✔️
Course record ✔️
18-minute PB ✔️All in a day's work for Tigist Assefa 🇪🇹 at the @berlinmarathon!
🎥 @WMMajors pic.twitter.com/WSJrELs5qP
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) September 25, 2022
Assefa, the Rio 2016 Olympian in the 800m, won her second-ever marathon after a 2:34:01 debut in Riyadh in March.
Her winning time in Berlin, a massive 18-minute improvement of her personal best, pushed her to third in the all-time list behind Kenya’s Kosgei and Britain’s Paula Radcliffe.
Rosemary Wanjiru of Kenya was second in 2:18:00 with another Ethiopian Tigist Abayechew finishing third in 02:18:03.
By Olympics.com
