Ethiopian athlete Tigst Assefa made history by smashing the women’s marathon world record during the Berlin race held on Sunday. Assefa, who had clinched victory in the same event the previous year, triumphed with an extraordinary finishing time of two hours, eleven minutes, and fifty-three seconds.

At just 26 years old, Assefa managed to shave off over two minutes from the previous record of 2:14.04, which had been set by Kenya’s Brigid Kosgei in Chicago back in 2019.

On the men’s side, double Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge secured his fifth consecutive victory in Berlin, crossing the finish line in an impressive time of 2:02.42. It’s noteworthy that the 38-year-old Kenyan had already set the men’s marathon record at 2:01.09 in Berlin the previous year, bringing him level with Ethiopian legend Haile Gebrselassie in terms of total wins.

Assefa’s remarkable performance marks the 13th world record to be established in the city of Berlin, where she had triumphed in the previous year with a time of 2:15.37. This achievement was already the third fastest women’s marathon in history at that time.

Expressing her joy, Assefa said, “I am very happy. I had a strong desire to break the marathon world record, but I couldn’t have anticipated that it would result in a time below 2:12.”

Interestingly, Assefa had initially specialized in the 800 meters but only transitioned to marathon racing in April of the preceding year. Her determination was evident as she set a blazing pace right from the start, reaching the halfway point in an impressive one hour, six minutes, and twenty seconds.

At the midway stage of the race, Assefa was among six women who were on pace to challenge the world record. She maintained her remarkable speed and, at the 37-kilometer mark (approximately 23 miles), was only three seconds per kilometer slower than Kipchoge’s pace during the same stage of the race on that Sunday.