Tigst Assefa finished the 2026 Berlin Marathon in 2:11:04 on Sunday, posting the third-fastest women's marathon time ever recorded despite a late-race injury. The result broke her own course record of 2:11:53 from 2023. Still, the Ethiopian distance runner fell just short of the women's world record after her stride broke down in the final 2 kilometers.
Injury Derails Assefa's World Record Run
Berlin's flat course has long been a target for record attempts, and through 40 kilometers, Assefa was on pace to run one.
Her projected finish sat around 2:09:44 — well under Ruth Chepngetich's world record of 2:09:56 from the 2024 Chicago Marathon. Then everything shifted.
Over the final 2.2 kilometers, she covered the distance in eight minutes and four seconds, roughly half a minute per kilometer off her earlier pace. Her stride shortened visibly as she pushed toward the finish.
The performance caps a dominant stretch for Assefa, who just 5 months earlier set the women's-only marathon record with a 2:15:41 win at the London Marathon.
Even with the late-race injury, Assefa's time places her behind only Chepngetich and Fotyen Tesfay (2:10:51) on the all-time women's marathon list. She now holds both the third and fourth-fastest times in history.
