Ethiopia’s Tigist Assefa is determined to break her own women’s marathon world record and run under two hours and 10 minutes in the upcoming London marathon. While she has set an ambitious goal, her main focus is to win the race. Assefa achieved her current world record of 2:11:53 in Berlin last September, surpassing the previous mark set by Brigid Kosgei.
Feeling encouraged and confident after her record-breaking performance, Assefa is determined to continue improving and achieving greater accomplishments in the sport. While she aims to lower her world record in the future, she is keeping her competitive focus on winning in London. With the Olympic marathon in Paris coming up in a few months, Assefa acknowledges the importance of conserving her energy for the upcoming races.
Assefa’s training regimen includes running between 110 and 124 miles per week, as well as four gym sessions to maintain her fitness and endurance. She attributes her success to her disciplined approach to training and hard work. Assefa will be wearing Adidas’s Adizero Adios Pro Evo 1 super shoe, the same shoe she wore when breaking the world record in Berlin. Despite the controversies surrounding the shoe’s technology and high price tag, Assefa appreciates the lightweight design that gives her an added advantage during races.
Assefa’s journey towards becoming one of the fastest runners in the world started when she was just a young girl growing up in Ethiopia. From a young age, she had a natural talent for running and began competing in local races at a very early age.
Over time, Assefa’s talent grew stronger, and she began competing at a national level. In 2018, she made history by becoming Ethiopia’s first woman to win a major international marathon when she won