Tigst Assefa Wins the Berlin Marathon in a Course Record

Tigst Assefa won the 2026 Berlin Marathon for the third time on Sunday in 2:11:04, a course record and a personal best, after running inside world record pace for almost the entire race. She passed 40K 10 seconds up on the time she needed to beat Ruth Chepngetich’s 2:09:56, but she slowed dramatically over the final two kilometers and crossed the line 1:08 outside the record.

Her stride changed noticeably over those last 2K, and she appeared to be limping in the final minutes as she crossed under the Brandenburg Gate. The cause has not been confirmed; however, initial reports suggest she was hit with an injury about 2K from the finish. Assefa is expected to speak at the post-race press conference at 12:30 p.m. CEST. She was absent from the podium ceremony shortly after the finish.

The Race

Assefa was alone with her male pacemakers from the first kilometers. She led defending champion Rosemary Wanjiru by 25 seconds at 5K and by more than a minute at 10K, and she went through halfway in 1:04:57, just a second inside even record pace, which puts a runner at halfway in 1:04:58. For the first 25K she was never more than a few seconds either side of that line.

The best running of her morning came next. She covered the 10K from 25K to 35K in 30:32, an average of 15:16 per 5K, and reached 35K in 1:47:32, 14 seconds ahead of schedule. She gave a little of that back between 35K and 40K, a 15:28 split, but she still arrived at 40K in 2:03:00 with 6:55 left to cover the final 2.195K and break the record.

But she needed 8:04. That final stretch works out to roughly 3:40 per kilometer, more than half a minute per kilometer slower than the pace she had held for the previous two hours, and it turned a second half that looked set to match her first into a 1:06:07.

The time still takes 49 seconds off the 2:11:53 she set in Berlin in 2023, which was a world record at the time and had stood as the course record since. It is also the third-fastest women’s marathon on record, behind Chepngetich and the 2:10:51 Fotyen Tesfay ran on her debut in Barcelona in March. Assefa’s margin of victory was 5:49.

The win is worth €60,000 (about $68,000 USD) from the organizers, €30,000 for first place and a €30,000 bonus for winning in under 2:15:00. The €50,000 record bonus goes unclaimed.

Tigst Assefa’s 2026 Berlin Marathon Splits, Compared with Ruth Chepngetich’s World Record

Hirpa Edges Dida for Second

Behind her, the race for second came down to the final kilometers between two Ethiopians. Dera Dida, Assefa’s training partner, led Bedatu Hirpa by a second at 40K, but Hirpa finished stronger to take second in 2:16:53, two seconds ahead of Dida in 2:16:55. Both ran well under their previous bests, Hirpa by 1:34 and Dida by 1:37. For Dida it is a second close finish in Berlin in as many years, after she lost to Wanjiru by three seconds in 2025.

Bekelech Gudeta, who was outside the top 10 at halfway, came through for fourth in 2:18:58, three seconds ahead of Alemitu Tariku (2:19:01). Kenya’s Pascaline Jelagat was sixth in 2:20:23.

Wanjiru, second at halfway in 1:07:42, was not among the top 10 at 35K and does not appear in the top 10 at the finish.

Adidas, the shoe and apparel sponsor of the Berlin Marathon, swept the women’s podium. All three athletes were wearing the company’s new TechFit endurance suit, which the Adidas claims helps maintain pelvic and hip strength throughout a marathon. The suit debuted in London, although Sabastian Sawe notably didn’t wear it when he broke the men’s world record in 1:59:30.

The men’s 2026 Berlin Marathon was won by Guye Adola. Read our race report here.

Berlin Marathon 2026 Women’s Top 10 Results

1. Tigst Assefa (ETH) 2:11:04
2. Bedatu Hirpa (ETH) 2:16:53
3. Dera Dida (ETH) 2:16:55
4. Bekelech Gudeta (ETH) 2:18:58
5. Alemitu Tariku (ETH) 2:19:01
6. Pascaline Jelagat (KEN) 2:20:23
7. Misgane Alemayehu (ETH) 2:20:27
8. Ludwina Chepngetich (KEN) 2:21:25
9. Evaline Chirchir (KEN) 2:21:32
10. Aminet Ahmed (ETH) 2:21:45