FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
World record holder Tigst Assefa aims
to set a new women's-only best time
Tigst Assefa is looking to add another world record to her name when she
chases victory in a star-studded women's elite race at the TCS London
Marathon on Sunday, 21 April.
The Ethiopian sent shock waves through the marathon running world when she
smashed minutes from the women's outright world record in the German
capital last September, clocking the previously unthinkable time of 2:11:53
to retain the Berlin Marathon crown.
Just seven months' later, the former 800m runner makes her London debut
with her sights set firmly on lowering the women-only world mark of 2:17:01
run by the brilliant Kenyan Mary Keitany on this course seven years ago.
"I've trained very well, just as I did for Berlin," said the composed and
confident 27-year-old on Thursday. "We'll see how well on Sunday, but I'm
sure I can beat the record, as I'm sure many of my competitors can too.
Tigst Assefa portrait
"I am very happy to be in London for the first time and very excited. My
training has gone really well and I feel ready for the race."
She will have to be, for Assefa faces one of the most talented fields of
female distance runners ever assembled, one containing three of the top
four fastest women in history and seven who have run under 2:17:30. "No
race in the history of our sport has had that," as Event Director Hugh
Brasher put it on Wednesday.
Assefa may be the favourite, but with only three marathons behind her she
is a relative newcomer over 26.2 miles next to some of her rivals. Indeed,
her rise has been nothing short of spectacular since she burst onto the
global marathon scene less than two years ago running a stunning Ethiopian
record of 2:15:37 in Berlin.
While that performance raised eyebrows, what she did 12 months later on the
same flat, fast course was draw-dropping, as Assefa completed the classic
distance more than two minutes quicker than any other woman in history.
Whether she can be as dominant on London's more technical terrain remains
to be seen, not that Assefa seems to have any doubts.
"Whether it's London or Berlin, it's the same for me," she said. "I won't
change my strategy. I'm here to win."
Among those hoping to disrupt her relentless rhythm will be the Kenyan duo
Brigid Kosgei and Ruth Chepngetich, who sit third and fourth on the
all-time list behind Dutch dynamo Sifan Hassan, and their compatriot Peres
Jepchirchir, the Olympic champion who was third here last year.
Kosgei, in particular, will be keen to produce her best again on the London
course. After back-to-back victories in 2019 and 2020, she dropped out
early last year with an injury, missing Hassan's dramatic win.
"Last year, I wasn't well but this year I come ready to race well again,"
said the experienced 30-year-old, who was back to winning ways in Abu Dhabi
last year. "I've prepared well in Kenya and I'll be ready to do my best on
Sunday."
As the former world record holder, Kosgei certainly has the credentials
with two London and two Chicago titles to her name as well as the Olympic
silver medal from Tokyo.
Chepngetich is also a double Chicago Marathon champion and returns to
London four years after placing third in the closed-loop, Covid-disrupted
race of 2020.
"I'm happy to be back after that race in 2020," said the 29-year-old. "I'm
ready to run well, but the field is so strong. Everybody here is chasing
something.
"So for me it's about winning first, then I'll think about setting
records."
"It will be tough," agreed Jepchirchir, who's won the New York City and
Boston Marathons in recent years, but missed the Big Apple race last year
because of injury.
"I'm in good health now," she said. "I was happy to be third last year and
this time I'm feeling better.
"But the field is so strong, I think the world record is definitely on.
After that, may the best one win."
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