Tigst Assefa: Biography, Wins and Results

Tigst Assefa ran the 800m at the Rio Olympic Games in August 2016. Six years later, in September 2022, she won the Berlin Marathon – only her second race over 42.195 km. As of 22 October 2026 she has won five World Marathon Majors and taken silver at both the Paris 2024 Olympics and the 2025 World Championships.

Her most recent victory, in Berlin on 27 September 2026, came at a price. She finished the race with a ruptured right Achilles tendon and had surgery the next day. This profile traces her path from a 12-year-old sprinter to the roads, lists her biggest results and explains what is known about her return as of 22 October 2026.

A sprinter first: the early years

World Athletics gives her date of birth as 3 December 1996. Her first recorded result is a bronze medal in the 400m at the Ethiopian Championships in 2009, in 56.70, when she was 12. Three years later she was on the national team: at the African Championships in Porto-Novo, Benin, in June 2012 she ran a 400m best of 54.05 and ran for Ethiopia in the 4x400m relay final.

In 2013 she moved up to the 800m. She became Ethiopian junior champion in 2:05.81 and, at the African Junior Championships in Réduit, Mauritius, won bronze in the 800m on 30 August 2013 and silver with the 4x400m relay the next day.

Career in stages

2014–2016: an 800m runner on the international circuit

On 3 July 2014, aged 17, she finished second at the Diamond League meeting in Lausanne in 1:59.24 – a personal best that still stood as of 22 October 2026. Later that summer she placed fourth in the 800m at both the African Championships (14 August 2014) and the Continental Cup (13 September 2014), both held in Marrakech.

Her only Diamond League win came on 2 June 2016, when she took the 800m at the Golden Gala in Rome in 2:00.84. That season she also ran heats at the World Indoor Championships in Portland and at the Rio Olympic Games, where she clocked 2:00.21 on 17 August 2016.

2017–2021: injury and a change of direction

An Achilles tendon injury reportedly stopped her from training in spikes, and she turned to road running. Her World Athletics file shows how quiet these years were: no races in 2017, one in 2018, four in 2019 and none in 2020 or 2021.

2022: eight races, seven wins

The new career took off in 2022. She won the adizero Road to Records half marathon in Herzogenaurach on 30 April 2022 in 1:07:28 and the Göteborgsvarvet half on 21 May 2022 in 1:08:20, ran 30:52 for 10 km in Langueux in June and finished the year with a win at the Bahrain Royal Night Half Marathon on 23 December 2022 (1:07:40). The same year brought her first two marathons: seventh in Riyadh in 2:34:01, then victory in Berlin on 25 September 2022 in 2:15:37. Every race she has run over the full distance is listed on our Tigst Assefa marathon page.

2023–2025: a record run, two silver medals and a London title

On 24 September 2023 she returned to Berlin and won in 2:11:53, improving the women's world record by more than two minutes. How that mark – and her later London times – compare with the all-time lists is explained on the Tigst Assefa world record page.

In 2024 she was second in London on 21 April (2:16:23) and won Olympic silver in Paris on 11 August 2024 in 2:22:58, three seconds behind Sifan Hassan after contact between the two in the final sprint. In 2025 she won London on 27 April in 2:15:50, a world record for a women-only race, and took silver at the World Championships in Tokyo on 14 September 2025 (2:24:45).

Major titles and medals

The 2013 time was hand-timed. As of 22 October 2026, World Athletics records 130 weeks for her at No. 1 in its women's marathon ranking.

The 2026 season: two starts, two wins

She opened 2026 by defending her London title on 26 April in 2:15:41, nine seconds inside her own women-only world record from 2025. Five months later, on 27 September 2026, she won Berlin for the third time in 2:11:04 – a course record, a personal best and, at that date, the third-fastest marathon ever run by a woman.

According to reports after the race, she felt pain from around 31 km, and the right Achilles tendon ruptured at about 40 km; she nevertheless finished and won. She was operated on the following day, 28 September 2026, at the BG Unfallklinik Murnau near Munich, and has not raced since.

Race count and wins in finals

The World Athletics database lists 50 results for her from 2009 to 2026 (heats and finals counted separately; the database may be incomplete): 45 finals, five heats or semi-finals, 18 wins in finals and three races not finished or disqualified. Her early track seasons in particular are only partly recorded. The busiest year was 2022 with eight races and seven wins in finals; in 2026 she started twice and won twice. Her World Athletics profile has the full list.

The pattern is clear from the numbers: since 2023 she has raced only one to three times a year, almost always over the full marathon distance. Before that, in her track years, a season could include up to eight races. In the World Athletics ranking her best overall position among women of all events was fifth (three weeks), as of 22 October 2026.

Tigst Assefa next race: what is known as of 22 October 2026

No organiser has confirmed an entry for her as of 22 October 2026. After the operation, her manager Gianni Demadonna told AFP on 28 September 2026 that she may be able to return for the London Marathon in April 2027; in a later interview with Marathon Handbook he said the timeline was uncertain. Status: reported by the media, not confirmed by organisers.

For reference, the 2027 London Marathon is a two-day event on 24–25 April 2027, and the elite race day had not been announced as of 22 October 2026. Other big spring marathons on the calendar are Tokyo (7 March 2027, confirmed) and Boston (19 April 2027, reported). We list them as races to watch, not as races she will run. Other Ethiopian road stars, such as Olympic champion Tamirat Tola, and the full calendar are on our Ethiopian athletes page.

Where to watch Tigst Assefa

The London and Berlin marathons have been shown across sub-Saharan Africa by SuperSport on pay TV, while World Athletics Series events, including the 2027 World Championships in Beijing, are licensed to Hagerie TV on free-to-air in Ethiopia.

Official rights holders only, checked 22 October 2026. Rights change by event and season – check the broadcaster’s schedule before a race. We do not link to unofficial streams.

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