Ethiopia's Fotyen Tesfay ran the second-fastest women's marathon in history on Saturday, making her Zurich Barcelona Marathon debut with a time of 2:10:53.
The 28-year-old finished just 57 seconds from Ruth Chepngetich's world record of 2:09:56, set in Chicago in 2024. Tesfay also shattered the Ethiopian record and delivered the fastest women's marathon debut ever recorded.
Tesfay won the Barcelona race by nearly eight minutes over Kenya's Joan Jepkosgei Kiplimo's second-place time of 2:18:42. Ethiopia's Zeineba Yimer placed third with 2:18:49.
The performance marks a remarkable transition to the marathon for Tesfay, who entered the race as the third-fastest women's half marathon runner in history. She finished seventh in the 10,000 meters at the Paris 2024 Olympics and eighth at the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25.
Tesfay targeted Chepngetich's world record throughout the race, hitting the halfway mark in 1:05:05, reaching 30 kilometers in 1:32:00, and subsequently passing 40 kilometers in 2:03:31.
"My plan was to attack the world record but today there was a lot of wind," Tesfay said through an interpreter.
"I was not able to push in the last part of the race. Today I did not succeed, but in the next marathon I would like to try for the world record."
The Barcelona Marathon served as a World Athletics Elite Label road race. Tesfay's breakthrough performance positions her as a major threat to Chepngetich's world record in future marathons.
2026 Barcelona Marathon Women's Leading Results
1. Fotyen Tesfay (ETH) 2:10:51
2. Joan Jepkosgei Kiplimo (KEN) 2:18:42
3. Zeineba Yimer (ETH) 2:18:49
4. Chaltu Chimdesa Kumsa (ETH) 2:23:32
5. Yalganesh Eskamech Gedefa (ETH) 2:24:05
