Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa broke her own women’s world record. On Sunday, April 26, the reigning Olympic and world silver medallist defended her London Marathon crown. She has now bettered her previous record by nine seconds, which she scored last year in the same course.
Assefa was locked in a three-way tussle with the Kenyan pair of Hellen Obiri and Joyciline Jepkosgei. But she managed to pull away in the closing stages and made it to the finishing line with a time of 2hr 15min 41sec.
Meanwhile, two-time former world 5,000m champion and Paris Olympics bronze e Obiri finished second with a personal best timing of 2:15:53. She finished ahead of compatriot Jepkosgei.
Tigst Assefa on the London Marathon 2026 world-record win
Speaking to the reporters during a press conference in London post-win, Assefa said, “I’m very happy to have broken the record and to have won in London for a second time. It means a lot to me.” On being asked whether she felt the world record was possible or not, Assefa emphasised the opening part of her performance.
“When I think about the competition, there’s no secret to my success. I’ve trained hard and because of all the hard work I’ve put in, I’ve achieved this level of success. After the first five kilometres we were running really fast and yet I was feeling very, very good. I sensed then that I could break the record that I’d set last year,” she added.
For Assefa, the next target is the 2028 LA Olympics. “Obviously the Olympics is in my sights,” she said. “But that’s going to be in a few years’ time and after a few more competitions. So obviously plans for that are yet to be decided,” she concluded.
