World record holder in marathon, Assefa aims to run a sub-2:10
The women’s world marathon record-holder believes she can go even faster than her best mark of 2:11:53
27-year-old, Ethiopia Tigist Assefa, stunned the world when she set the world marathon record of 2:11:53 in Berlin last September, stating she could break that time at some point in her career.
Whether that’s at this weekend’s TCS London Marathon remains to be seen, given that she will be up against the strongest women’s marathon field ever assembled.
When the Ethiopian ran 2:11:53 in the German capital, she took an astonishing two minutes and 11 seconds off Brigid Kosgei’s previous world record of 2:14:04.
Assefa and Kosgei will go head-to-head in London but they will also be joined by 2019 world champion Ruth Chepngetich, Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir and 2022 London winner Yalemzerf Yehualaw. That means three of the four fastest women in history are in the race.
Assefa will also wear the Adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 1 in London, the same ‘super shoe’ that helped her to rewrite the record books in Berlin.
“In the future, I want to run under two hours and ten minutes,” Assefa tells AW, through a translator. “If I can do the training that will allow me to do that then that will be the key factor. I think I’m capable, God willing, of going under that mark.
“I’m excited about taking part in London. I had intended to do the marathon here last year but I was injured. That’s made me even more determined this time round.”
Assefa initially started on the track and represented Ethiopia over 800m at the Rio 2016 Olympics. Although failing to make it through the heats, she still boasts a personal best of 1:59.24, set at the Lausanne Diamond League a decade ago.
An Achilles tendon injury meant that Assefa was forced to swap the track for the roads because she couldn’t wear spikes anymore.
“The switch from being a track runner to the marathons was not an easy one,” she says. “It required a lot of hard work and it didn’t work immediately but now it feels much easier and more natural.”
Assefa is coached by Gemedu Dedefo, who also trains last week’s Boston Marathon winner and 2:01:48 runner Sisay Lemma, plus former London Marathon champion Tamirat Tola. That competitiveness in the group has helped each athlete drive each other on over the marathon.
“We have a very strong group and it helps that we are all serious about our training,” adds the Ethiopian. “If we have good results then it gives us that extra confidence when we go to other competitions.”
