Tigist Assefa

Tigist Assefa Tessema (born 28 March 1994)[1] is an Ethiopian long-distance runner, a former 800 metres specialist. After her marathon debut in April 2022, she improved by over 18 minutes and set the third-fastest mark on the world all-time list (currently fifth) at the 2022 Berlin Marathon.[2][3][4]

Tigist Assefa
Assefa at a meeting in Reims, France in 2013
Personal information
Full nameTigist Assefa Tessema
NationalityEthiopian
Born (1994-03-28) 28 March 1994
Sport
CountryEthiopia
SportAthletics
Event(s)Long-distance running
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  Ethiopia
World Marathon Majors
Gold medal – first place2022 BerlinMarathon
African Junior Championships
Silver medal – second place2013 Bambous4x400 m relay
Bronze medal – third place2013 Bambous800 m

In 2013, Assefa was the 800 metres bronze medallist at the African Junior Championships. With her 2014 personal best in the event, she became in 2022 in Berlin the first woman in history to break two minutes for 800 m and 2:20 for the marathon.[5]

Career

In August 2014, Tigist Assefa placed fourth in the women's 800 metres at the African Championships in Athletics in Marrakesh, Morocco. The same month, she won the race at the ISTAF Berlin meet in Germany. In September, she finished fourth over the distance at the IAAF Continental Cup, also held in Marrakesh.[1]

She was eliminated in the 800 m first round of the 2016 World Indoor Championships in Portland, Oregon. The 22-year-old represented Ethiopia in the 800 m event at the 2016 Rio Olympics, where she did not qualify from the heats with a season's best of 2:00.21.[6][7]

She switched to road running in 2018.[1]

In March 2022, Assefa debuted in the marathon distance at the inaugural Riyadh Marathon in Saudi Arabia, finishing seventh with a time of 2:34:01.[8][9] At the Berlin Marathon in September, the 28-year-old stopped the clock at two hours 15 minutes 37 seconds, an over 18 minutes improvement and the third-fastest women's mark ever at the time, slower only than 2:14:04 of the world record-holder Brigid Kosgei and 2:15:25 of the former record-holder Paula Radcliffe. Thus she won by over two minutes, bettered a course record by more than two and a half minutes, and set an Ethiopian record. In a race of negative splits, her second half ran in a time of 67:24 was faster than her then half marathon personal best (67:28), which she set in April of that year when winning the adizero Road to Records event in Herzogenaurach, also in Germany.[3]

Achievements

Personal bests

All information from World Athletics profile.[1]

TypeEventTimeDatePlaceNotes
Track 400 metres54.0527 June 2012Porto-Novo, Benin
800 metres1:59.243 July 2014Lausanne, Switzerland
Road 10 km30:5225 June 2022Langueux, France
Half marathon1:07:2830 April 2022Herzogenaurach, Germany
Marathon2:15:3725 September 2022Berlin, Germany#5th fastest of all time

International competitions
Representing  Ethiopia
YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventTime
2012 African Championships Porto-Novo, Benin 19th (sf) 400 m 55.58
2013 African Junior Championships Bambous, Mauritius 3rd 800 m 2:05.6h
2nd 4x400 m relay 3:42.2h
2014 African Championships Marrakesh, Morocco 4th 800 m 2:00.43
Continental Cup Marrakesh, Morocco 4th 800 m 2:00.57
2016 World Indoor Championships Portland, OR, United States 12th (h) 800 m i 2:04.55
Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 20th (h) 800 m 2:00.21 SB
World Marathon Majors
2022 Berlin Marathon Berlin, Germany 1st Marathon 2:15.37 NR

References
  1. "Tigist ASSEFA – Athlete Profile". World Athletics. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
  2. "Kipchoge breaks world record in Berlin with 2:01:09". World Athletics. 25 September 2022. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
  3. "Eliud Kipchoge (2:01:09) Smashes World Record; Tigist Assefa (2:15:37) Stuns World at 2022 Berlin Marathon". LetsRun.com. 25 September 2022. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
  4. Henderson, Jason (25 September 2022). "Eliud Kipchoge smashes world marathon record in Berlin". AW. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
  5. Ingle, Sean (25 September 2022). "Eliud Kipchoge takes 30 seconds off his men's marathon world record in Berlin". TheGuardian.com. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
  6. "Tigst Assefa". Rio 2016. Archived from the original on 6 August 2016. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
  7. "Women's 800m - Standings". Rio 2016. Archived from the original on 31 August 2016. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
  8. https://archive.today/20220925161235/https://english.alarabiya.net/News/gulf/2022/03/06/More-than-10-000-people-take-part-in-first-full-length-Riyadh-Marathon
  9. https://archive.today/20220927211044/https://www.womensrunning.com/culture/news/ethiopias-tigist-assefa-win-berlin-2022/
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