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Ethiopia's Tigst Assefa has taken more than two minutes off the women's marathon world record, with a remarkable victory in the Berlin Marathon where she made the most of a flat course and favourable weather conditions.
- A former 800m runner, Assefa only took up marathon racing last year
- Her blistering pace was only 3 seconds slower per kilometre than the men's winner up to the 37km mark
- Climate activists tried to run onto the course with buckets of orange paint but were stopped by police
She clocked an official time of two hours 11 minutes and 53 seconds to pulverise Kenyan Brigid Kosgei's record of two hours 14 minutes and four seconds, set in 2019.
Assefa, who had set a course record with a personal best last year, set a blistering early pace.
But, remarkably, her splits were faster after the halfway mark.
"I knew I wanted to go for the world record but I never thought I would do this time," said the 26-year-old, a former 800-metre runner.
"It was the result of hard work."
With her time, the 29-year-old set a marker for next year's Paris Olympics while also almost certainly nailing down a spot on the Ethiopian Olympic team for 2024.
"I have set a mark now ... the decision does not lie with me but with officials," she said.
"It is up to the National Committee to select me for the team."
Assefa, who only started racing marathons in April last year, made her intentions clear from the start.
Along with compatriot Workenesh Edesa, they carved out a gap from the chasing pack but Edesa could not keep up and had dropped away by the 17th kilometre.
Assefa clocked an hour and six minutes 20 seconds at the halfway mark.
She was one of six women to be on world record time at that stage as the Berlin marathon lived up to its reputation as one of the world's fastest.
She had no problem maintaining her pace and at the 37km mark she was just three seconds per kilometre slower than the pace set by men's winner, Eliud Kipchoge, at the same stage of the race before cruising to a sensational world record.
Her remarkable victory overshadowed a record fifth victory by Kipchoge — the men's world record holder.
The 38-year-old Kenyan, who is aiming to win his third Olympic marathon medal next year in Paris, did not come close to the record he set in Berlin last year, finishing with a time of two hours two minutes and 42 seconds.
Climate activists, who had threatened to disrupt the event, tried to run onto the course with buckets of orange paint but were quickly stopped and taken away by police just minutes before the start.
Wires/ABC