Ethiopia’s Tigist Assefa, who won silver in the 2024 Paris Olympics, smashed the women-only world record by 26 seconds at the TCS London Marathon. Tigist finished the race in 2:15:50 to win the World Athletics Platinum Label road race on Sunday.

Tigist’s time of 2:11:53, set in the Berlin Marathon, remains the second-fastest women’s marathon of all time, behind the 2:09:56 achieved by Ruth Chepngetich, which broke Tigist’s world record in Chicago in October.

“Having won today, what I am thinking about going forward is trying to get my world record back for the marathon,” Tigist told reporters after the race.

Asked about her race strategy, she added: “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.”

According to David Monti, Founder and Editor of Race Results Weekly, Tigist Assefa earned USD 305,000 at the London Marathon. This does not include her appearance fee, private bonuses, and contract bonuses from Adidas. Tigist earned $55,000 for the win, $100,000 for finishing under 2:16:00, and $150,000 for the women’s world record.

Tigist used to be an 800-meter athlete. When she was 17, Tigist ran a personal best of 1:59.24 at the Lausanne Diamond League, coming in under the 2-minute mark. Following her participation in the 800 meters in 2016, an injury to her Achilles tendon prevented her from running in spikes.

Final results

1 Tigist Assefa (ETH) 2:15:50
2 Joyciline Jepkosgei (KEN) 2:18:44
3 Sifan Hassan (NED) 2:19:00
4 Haven Hailu Desse (ETH) 2:19:17
5 Vivian Cheruiyot (KEN) 2:22:32
6 Stella Chesang (UGA) 2:22:42
7 Sofiia Yaremchuk (ITA) 2:23:14
8 Eilish McColgan (GBR) 2:24:25
9 Rose Harvey (GBR) 2:25:01
10 Susanna Sullivan (USA) 2:29:30