World Athletics ratified Tigist Assefa’s world record

The world record set by marathon runner Tigist Assefa, on September 24 last year in Berlin, Germany, was confirmed when it was ratified by World Athletics.

Assefa won the BMW Berlin Marathon with a time of 2:11:53, which allowed her to lower the world record that Kenyan Brigid Kosgei had set when she won in Chicago on October 13, 2019, with a record of 2:14:04.

“I hope that my performance will be a motivation for young athletes in Ethiopia,” said the runner and hoped “that the world record one year before the Olympic Games will give our country a boost for Paris”.

Now, just over two months before the start of the Olympic Games, Assefa starts as the big favorite to win the gold medal and will lead a team in Paris that is completed by Amane Beriso (her best record was in Valencia 2022 with 2h 14:58) and Megerte Alemu (best record of 2:16.34 in London 2024), while the world champion in Eugene 2022 Gotytom Gebresilase and Buze Diriba were left as reserves.

Meanwhile, the Ethiopian Athletics Federation confirmed the presence of Kenenisa Bekele among men, who at 41 is second in the London Marathon with a time of 2h 04:15 and will seek in Paris to add one more medal to the four she has in her career, although in other distances: in Athens 2004 he won the 10,000 meters and was second in the 5,000, while in Beijing he became Olympic champion in both events.

The other representatives of Ethiopia will be Sisay Lemma, who won the Boston Marathon this year with 2h 06:17, and Deresa Geleta, also winner of the Seville Marathon in 2024 with 2h 03:27. Tamirat Tola and Eusedin Mohammed remained as reserves.