Tigst Assefa Sets New World Record, Beats Joyciline Jepkosgei to Win London Marathon 2025
- Tigst Assefa shaved off a clean 30 seconds to set a new women-only marathon world record in London on Sunday
- The Ethiopian made amends from last year, where she finished second to Peres Jepchirchir, to win her first London title
- Kenya's Joyciline Jepkosgei was second, with Olympic champion Sifan Hassan wrapping up the top three places
Tigst Assefa shaved off a clean 30 seconds to set a new women-only marathon world record, shaving off almost 30 seconds from the previous record held by Kenyan Peres Jepchirchir.
Source: Getty Images
How Tigst Assefa set a new world record
Assefa destroyed Kenyan Joyciline Jepkosgei in the last five kilometres to win her third Marathon Major after conquering Berlin twice before.
The race had been dominated by talk of a rematch of the Paris 2024 Olympics, where Sifaan Hassan outpaced Assefa in the homestretch to take gold. Hassan, however, didn't live up to the expectation, dropping off early as Jepkosgei and Assefa widened the gap.
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The two ran side by side, going through the halfway mark at an incredible 66:40. At the 35-kilometre mark, Hassan was two minutes, three seconds behind the leading trio.
Assefa shook off Jepkosgei, injecting devastating pace as they started the last five kilometres. The Olympic silver medalist crossed the 40-kilometre mark in 2:08:47, confirming her win in the London marathon.
She eventually finished with 2:15:50, which was 31 seconds less than Jepchirchir's former record of 2:16:16.
So huge was her final kick that Jepkosgei, the 2021 winner, came in second three minutes later with a time of 2:18:44. Hassan clocked 2:19:00.
Source: Getty Images
Tigst Assefa: I was training for all outcomes
Speaking after the race, the Ethiopian expressed her delight in winning.
"When I crossed the line, I felt extreme happiness – I was very, very happy to win the race here. I was training for all outcomes. I felt I could win with a sprint; I could also win with a long run from home. The main thing was to prepare well, and that’s what I did," she said, as captured by World Athletics.
Sebastian Sawe wins men's marathon
In the men's race, Sebastian Sawe won his first marathon major after leaving the rest of the field after the 30K mark.
Sawe clocked 2:02:27 to win the race ahead of Jacob Kiplimo, who recorded an impressive time on his marathon debut.
Alexander Mutiso, the champion from last year, beat Abdi Nageyee in a sprint finish to finish third.
How much Eliud Kipchoge earned from London Marathon
Double Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge finished sixth with a time of 2:05:25.
Kipchoge, who was aiming to win a fifth title in London, failed to do so but posted an impressive time nonetheless after a very challenging 2024 season that saw him fail to finish a marathon for the first time in his career.
TUKO.co.ke reported on how much the second-fastest marathoner in history will earn despite his sixth-placed finish.
Proofreading by Mercy Nyambura, copy editor at TUKO.co.ke.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
