Tigist Assefa Tessema (born 28 March 1994) is an Ethiopian

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires endurance, stamina as well as mental strength. Within e ...

, a former

800 metres The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since the ...

specialist. After her

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

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 The 2022 Berlin Marathon was the 48th edition of the annual marathon race in Berlin, which took place on Sunday, . An Elite Platinum Label marathon, it was the first of four World Marathon Majors events to be held over the span of six weeks. ...

. 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.

Career

In August 2014, Tigist Assefa placed fourth in the women's

at the African Championships in Athletics in

Marrakesh Marrakesh or Marrakech ( or ; ar, مراكش, murrākuš, ; ber, ⵎⵕⵕⴰⴽⵛ, translit=mṛṛakc}) is the fourth largest city in the Kingdom of Morocco. It is one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrakes ...

, 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. She was eliminated in the 800 m first round of the

2016 World Indoor Championships The 16th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held between March 17 and 20, 2016 in Portland, Oregon, United States. The event did not feature Russia. Following a WADA investigation into widespread and institutional doping practice ...

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

. The 22-year-old represented Ethiopia in the 800 m event at the

2016 Rio Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...

, where she did not qualify from the heats with a season's best of 2:00.21. She switched to

road running Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road. This differs from track and field on a regular track and cross country running over natural terrain. These events are usually classified as long-distance ac ...

in 2018. In March 2022, Assefa debuted in the

distance at the inaugural

Riyadh Marathon The Riyadh Marathon is an annual road-based marathon hosted by Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, since 2022. The organizers state that is the "first official full marathon to be held in the Kingdom". The marathon has been a World Athletics Elite Label R ...

in Saudi Arabia, finishing seventh with a time of 2:34:01.https://archive.today/20220927211044/https://www.womensrunning.com/culture/news/ethiopias-tigist-assefa-win-berlin-2022/ At the

Berlin Marathon The Berlin Marathon (german: Berlin-Marathon, ) is a marathon event held annually on the streets of Berlin, Germany on the last weekend of September. Held annually since 1974, the event includes multiple races over the marathon distance of , inclu ...

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 Herzogenaurach (; vmf, Herziaura) is a town in the district of Erlangen-Höchstadt, in Bavaria, Germany. It is best known for being the home of the major international sporting goods companies Adidas and Puma, as well as the large car parts m ...

, also in Germany.

Achievements

Personal bests

All information from

World Athletics World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

profile.

International competitions

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Assefa, Tigist 1996 births Living people Ethiopian female middle-distance runners Olympic athletes of Ethiopia Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics 21st-century Ethiopian women Ethiopian female long-distance runners Berlin Marathon female winners