“The switch from being a track runner to the marathon was not an easy one,” Tigst Assefa admitted. But this decision was unavoidable, as the pain from an Achilles Tendon injury became too much to bear. To further rub it in, this happened at the Valencia Half marathon, the same event where she first made her name. And wearing the very spikes that gave her joy was starting to become a source of agony. Yet, Assefa wasn’t one to let go. With the same relentless drive that made her a sprint queen, she took on a new challenge, and at the London Marathon, she made good on that vow in the most spectacular way possible.

In a jaw-dropping turn of events at the TCS London Marathon, the 28-year-old Ethiopian shattered the women’s marathon world record. Facing fierce competition, including Olympic champion Sifan Hassan, Assefa powered through the elite field to snatch a historic victory. Once seen as an underdog after Hassan’s dominance on the global stage, Assefa breathtakingly flipped the script, delivering a performance that left the athletics world stunned.

World Athletics wasted no time capturing the moment, posting on X, “WORLD RECORD 👑 🇪🇹’s Tigst Assefa powers to the women-only marathon world record at the @LondonMarathon 🔥.” And what a moment it was. Assefa didn’t just win. She smashed the women-only world record by a massive 26 seconds, storming to victory in 2:15:50 at the World Athletics Platinum Label road race.

In a dazzling show of strength and strategy, the Olympic silver medalist pulled away from Kenya’s Joyciline Jepkosgei in the final stretch to claim her first London Marathon title after finishing runner-up to Peres Jepchirchir last year. The scale of Assefa’s domination was jaw-dropping. Jepchirchir’s winning time of 2:16:16 from 2024 had also been a woman-only world record, but Assefa blew past it with authority, crossing the line almost three minutes ahead of Jepkosgei.

Olympic champion Sifan Hassan, despite her fierce reputation, had to settle for third in 2:18:59. Against a field led by the formidable Hassan, who had narrowly edged out Assefa at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Assefa defied every odd and delivered a major upset that may go down as one of the greatest comebacks in marathon history. The race displayed all the characteristics that pointed toward becoming a legendary moment from the very beginning.

 The trio of Assefa, Jepkosgei, and Hassan formed an aggressive lead group that ran breathtaking early times toward the world record. Assefa and Jepkosgei sprinted ahead of other runners, yet Assefa kept pushing herself to an entirely new level for victory. She walked proudly to win the race and secure the third-fastest time of her distinguished marathon career at that point. Together with coach Gemedu Dedefo, she receives intense guidance during her training in Ethiopia.

From training, ground heroics to world record history

Tigst Assefa established herself as both a national outstanding athlete and a marathon legend through her extraordinary path. She set a marathon world record before anyone else while being the first Ethiopian woman to achieve this milestone, and she has now accomplished this twice. Her achievement was impossible to predict twelve months ago. Gemedu Dedefo identified Tigst Assefa’s potential for greatness when she began dominating the training courses of Ethiopia in front of Dedefo.

The impressive performance from Berlin last year made Dedefo expect that Assefa would break the world record once she remained injury-free. An injury prevented her from participating in the spring marathon before deterring her from entering London, but she has recovered with unparalleled strength. “I coach a lot of ladies,” Dedefo said proudly. “Never have I coached an athlete like her. Tigst is the strongest one.”

His unwavering faith and elite coaching have been key pillars behind Assefa’s meteoric rise. Backing Dedefo’s instincts was Tigst Assefa’s agent, Gianni Demadonna, who witnessed the spark firsthand. Demadonna revealed that while Dedefo was astounded by Assefa’s blistering training performances, even he couldn’t have imagined just how fast she would go.

The following performance exceeded all conceivable expectations. The impressive time of 2:15:37 was set by Assefa when she was only 27 years old. Perhaps the most jaw-dropping part of Tigst Assefa’s story? She had participated in a single marathon before her success story began. She participated in her first marathon in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and then finished with a time of 2:34.

The seasons saw her transformation from an up-and-coming runner to a historical wonder of the sport. Through her commanding victory at the London Marathon, Assefa established herself as one of the memorable runners of marathon history by achieving an overwhelming success.