Berlin Marathon 2026: Tigst Assefa runs 2:11:04 on an injured Achilles as Guye Adola wins again

Tigst Assefa was 10 seconds inside world-record pace with two kilometres to go in Berlin on Sunday. Then she started limping. She still finished in 2:11:04, 49 seconds under the course record she set here in 2023, and needed medical treatment for what race director Mark Milde described as a right Achilles injury, AFP reported.

Guye Adola won the men's race in 2:02:50, a personal best and his second Berlin title after 2021. The official results are on Mika Timing.

Results

Times from World Athletics' race report and the organizer's report.

Assefa ran alone from the gun

She led by 25 seconds at 5K and about a minute by 15K, per AFP. World Athletics has her through halfway in 1:04:57, which it called the third-fastest halfway split ever recorded in a women's marathon, and through 40K in 2:03:00. Nobody else was in the race after the first few miles: Bedatu Hirpa finished nearly six minutes back.

The 2:11:04 is the third-fastest women's marathon on record. The world record of 2:09:56 still stands, though AFP noted that Ruth Chepngetich, who set it, received a three-year doping ban in 2025.

"We have to bow our heads to this performance," Milde said.

Adola waited until 30K

The men's lead group went through halfway in 1:01:01 and stayed together until about 25K, according to World Athletics. Adola led at 30K in 1:26:57, Geay began to lose contact a couple of kilometres later, and by 35K Adola had nine seconds on Dida. He won by 29.

Adola's previous best was the 2:03:46 he ran on his Berlin debut in 2017, when he pushed Eliud Kipchoge to the last few kilometres. Defending champion Sabastian Sawe withdrew injured before the race.

The organizer counted the two winning times together at 4:13:54, the second-fastest combined winning time at any marathon, behind Chicago 2024.

Wheelchair races

NBC Sports lists Marcel Hug winning the men's wheelchair race in 1:23:28 and Catherine Debrunner winning the women's in 1:35:01, with Manuela Schär second, giving Switzerland both titles and a one-two in the women's race.

The field

More than 56,000 runners from 162 nations entered the marathon, and the organizer expected a record of over 84,000 participants across the weekend's events, it said. Haftom Welday (2:08:25) and Anna Langerwisch (2:27:31, her first time under 2:30) were the fastest Germans. Esther Pfeiffer's attempt on the German record ended when she stopped around 14K.

Next up among the majors is Chicago on October 11.