Berlin Marathon: Tigst Assefa dramatically misses the world record
At the 52nd Berlin Marathon, Ethiopia's Tigst Assefa was on world-record pace until muscle problems in the final kilometres; she won in 2:11:04, a new course record, but well outside the world record of 2:09:56. Guye Adola won the men's race in 2:02:50.
Ethiopian runner Tigst Assefa (29) came close to a new marathon world record at the 52nd Berlin Marathon on Sunday, 27 September 2026, but fell short in dramatic fashion. She was on record pace until shortly before the finish, then struggled with muscle problems over the last kilometres and crossed the line in 2:11:04 - clearly slower than the world record of 2:09:56 set by Kenya's Ruth Chepngetich in 2024. Her time was still a new Berlin course record, improving on the 2:11:53 she ran in Berlin in 2023. The men's race was also won by an Ethiopian: Guye Adola, at 35 the oldest athlete in the men's elite field, ran a personal best of 2:02:50. Haftom Welday was the fastest German man in 2:08:25. German favourite Esther Pfeiffer, paced by her husband Hendrik Pfeiffer and on course for a German record, had to drop out injured shortly before the 15-kilometre mark; Irina Mikitenko's German record of 2:19:19 from 2008 therefore still stands. Anna Langerwisch (SCC / Marathon Team Berlin) was the fastest German woman with a personal best of 2:27:31. Conditions were ideal at around 13 degrees. Governing Mayor Kai Wegner started the elite field at 8:45 a.m.; more than 56,000 participants were registered, and 1,800 police officers were on duty to manage traffic and security, with large events under particular scrutiny after the Islamist attack on Berlin's Christopher Street Day.
