The Berlin Marathon is among the most awaited majors of the calendar and this Sunday the world record of Ethiopian Tigst Assefa and the fifth crowning of Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge at the Brandenburg Gate justified such condition.
For the second consecutive time Assefa dominated the German capital’s track, now with an incredible time of 2:11:53 hours, qualified by the specialists as stratospheric, superb… and any adjective they could find to try to describe the feat.
The Ethiopian lowered by more than two minutes the record that since 2019 exhibited the Kenyan Brigid Kosgei (2:14:04 hours), an event of greater relevance because it is the third marathon of her career.
Two years after her elimination in the first round of the 800m during the 2016 Rio Olympics, Assefa completed her first half marathon in Valencia. And it was not until March 2022 that he dared to officially cover the 42 kilometers and 195 meters.
His evolution in long-distance running was once again impressive, especially the pace displayed to overcome the half of the circuit with a time of 1:06:20 hours, just a preview of what would end up being another appointment with history.
Undoubtedly, his performance grabbed the media attention, but without overshadowing the other feat of the day on the flattest course of the most emblematic marathons in the calendar. It happened minutes later, when King Kipchoge achieved his fifth success in this grueling event, something that no runner in history has ever achieved.
With a time of 2:02:11 hours, the fifth best of his career, the already legendary marathon runner broke the embrace that held him together with another great, the Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassie, who managed to climb the Berlin throne four times.
Kipchoge again enjoyed the feeling of victory, although some give more importance to his “reconciliation” with the distance after finishing sixth in the Boston Marathon 2023, run last April.
MARATHON DATA
– Assefa’s world record is the fourth signed by a woman in Berlin and succeeds the one inscribed by local Christa Vaglensieck (2:19:46 hours) in 2019.
– Among women, 35 world records have been recognized. The list began in 1926 with the time of 3:40:22 hours signed by British Violet Piercy.
– Assefa became the 25th woman to set an orb record at the distance of 42 kilometers and 195 meters. The marathon runner with the most world records on her record is Norway’s Grete Waitz, who broke the limit four times between 1978 and 1983.
– From 2003 to date, all the men’s records have occurred in Berlin. Kipchoge holds the current record of 2:01:09 hours since September 25, 2022.
– Six runners, including Kipchoge, have been able to beat the world record for the distance more than once. That list also includes Ethiopia’s Haile Gebreselassie, Morocco’s Khalid Khannouchi, Australia’s Derek Clayton, Ethiopia’s Abebe Bikila and Great Britain’s Jim Peters.
