Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa breaks women-only world record at London Marathon

After two runner-up finishes in her last two marathons, Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa reclaimed her spot atop the podium on Sunday at the 2025 London Marathon. The 28-year-old triumphed with a women-only world record time of 2:15:50, securing her third career victory in a major marathon.

2:15:50 ⏱️

Tigist Assefa is your new women-only marathon world record-holder ⚡️#londonmarathon2025 pic.twitter.com/nXltd8L7Jr

— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) April 27, 2025

Assefa’s performance surpassed the previous women-only record of 2:16:16, set by Peres Jepchirchir at last year’s London Marathon. World Athletics began recognizing women-only world records in 2011, ensuring fairness by removing the subtle advantages gained from pacing by male runners in mixed-gender races.

The race saw Assefa strategically deploy light surges to outlast reigning Olympic champion Sifan Hassan at the 30-kilometre mark. As Assefa broke away from the pack, Kenya’s Joyciline Jepkosgei responded with a strong counter-move, maintaining pace with the former world record holder until the 38-kilometre mark. Jepkosgei ultimately finished second in 2:18:44, while Hassan rounded out the podium in third with a time of 2:19:00.

This victory in London marks Assefa’s third Abbott World Marathon Major (AWMM) title. She previously took wins at the 2022 and 2023 Berlin Marathons, with her 2023 Berlin victory standing out in women’s distance running history—she shattered the marathon world record with a time of 2:11:53. That record was later lowered to 2:09:56 by Ruth Chepngetich at the 2024 Chicago Marathon.

In addition to her London and Berlin victories, Assefa won silver in the women’s marathon at the Paris 2024 Olympics, narrowly losing to Hassan in a sprint finish. However, Assefa got the best of Hassan in the rubber match, and this time, in record time.

One of the standout performances in the London Marathon women’s field came from Great Britain’s Eilish McColgan, making her anticipated marathon debut. Following in the footsteps of her mother, Liz McColgan, Eilish finished as the top British woman with a time of 2:24:25, setting the fastest marathon mark in history by a Scottish runner.

Top 10 women

Tigst Assefa (Ethiopia) 2:15:50Joyciline Jepkosgei (Kenya) 2:18:43Sifan Hassan (Netherlands) 2:18:59Haven Hailu Desse (Ethiopia) 2:19:17Vivian Cheruiyot (Kenya) 2:22:32Stella Chesang (Uganda) 2:22:42Sofiia Yaremchuk (Italy) 2:23:14Eilish McColgan (U.K.) 2:24:25Rose Harvey (U.K.) 2:25:01Susanna Sullivan (U.S.) 2:29:30

For full results from the 2025 London Marathon, see here.