Ethiopia’s Fotyen Tesfay made history on Sunday at the Zurich Barcelona Marathon, finishing in 2 hours 10 minutes 53 seconds to record the second-fastest women’s marathon time ever.
Tesfay came within a minute of Ruth Chepngetich’s 2:09:56 world record set in Chicago in 2024, while also establishing a new Ethiopian national record.
The 28-year-old, who entered the race as the third-fastest women’s half-marathon runner in history, maintained her speed over the full distance. She ran the first 10 kilometres in 31 minutes 5 seconds, staying behind two male runners, and reached the halfway point in 1 hour 5 minutes 5 seconds.
She hit 30 kilometres in 1 hour 32 minutes and continued to 40 kilometres in 2 hours 3 minutes 31 seconds, demonstrating remarkable endurance despite strong winds in the final stretch.
“Today was fantastic – not what I was expecting, but it is good,” Tesfay said through an interpreter, according to World Athletics.
“My plan was to attack the world record but today there was a lot of wind, I was not able to push in the last part of the race. Today I did not succeed, but in the next marathon I would like to try for the world record.”
Tesfay won by nearly eight minutes ahead of Kenya’s Joan Jepkosgei Kiplimo, who finished in 2 hours 18 minutes 42 seconds. Ethiopia’s Zeineba Yimer took third in 2 hours 18 minutes 49 seconds.
Her performance also marks the fastest-ever debut by a woman in a marathon, signalling a remarkable start to her career at the distance.
After placing seventh at the Paris 2024 Olympics and eighth at the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25 in the 10,000 meters, Tesfay has now confirmed her potential over the marathon distance.
In the men’s race, Uganda’s Abel Chelangat claimed victory in 2 hours 4 minutes 57 seconds, pulling ahead of Kenya’s Patrick Mosin late in the race.
Mosin finished second in 2 hours 5 minutes 1 second, while Kenya’s Jonathan Samanayo Korir took third in 2 hours 5 minutes 29 seconds.