Ethiopian distance star Tigst Assefa rewrote the women's marathon record book again on Sunday, winning the 2026 TCS London Marathon in 2 hours, 15 minutes and 41 seconds — nine seconds faster than the women-only world record she set on the same streets last year.
It was the third consecutive year that the women-only marathon record has fallen at London, after Kenya's Peres Jepchirchir went 2:16:16 in 2024 and Assefa lowered it to 2:15:50 in 2025. Each of those marks was achieved in a women's-only field, meaning the leaders had no male pacers to draft behind — an honest test of pure women's racing.
Assefa, 29, fought off a quality chase pack that included reigning Olympic and Boston champion Hellen Obiri of Kenya and former London winner Joyciline Jepkosgei, only breaking clear in the final miles along the Embankment. Obiri took second in 2:16:24 with Jepkosgei third in 2:17:02, both inside the previous women-only record themselves.
"There is no secret to my success," Assefa said after the race, smiling under her gold medal. "I just train hard, eat well, and trust the plan. London feels like home now."
Her splits told a story of patience and timing. Assefa passed halfway in 1:08:22, sitting inside a tightly packed lead group, then lifted the pace through 30 kilometres before delivering a 4:54 mile in the closing stretch — a sprint speed at the back end of a marathon that few in the sport can match.
The performance shaved Assefa's own record by nine seconds and pushed her further clear as the fastest woman ever in an all-female elite race. The overall women's world record of 2:09:56, set by Ruth Chepng'etich in Chicago last year using mixed-field male pacers, remains the absolute mark, but Assefa's run is widely regarded as the truer measure of head-to-head women's marathoning.
Sunday's result also capped a remarkable London weekend. Hours earlier, Kenya's Sabastian Sawe became the first man to break two hours in a record-eligible marathon, winning in 1:59:30. The men's and women's elite races together produced two world records on the same morning — something that has never happened at any major marathon before.
Race director Hugh Brasher called it "the greatest single day of marathon running we have ever seen," and pointed to a combination of cool spring temperatures, a refined course, and a generation of athletes pushing one another to new limits.
For Assefa, the win continues a steep upward arc. She came to marathoning from the track only four years ago and has now won three of the past four major titles she has entered, alongside her two record-setting London performances. She has hinted that she may target the absolute world record at a fast mixed-field race later this year.
Crowds along the route were estimated at more than 750,000, with a record television audience watching across the BBC and global broadcasters. London Marathon Events confirmed the 2026 race had its highest-ever ballot turnout, with more than 840,000 people applying for general entry — itself a sign of how fast the running boom is travelling.
For now, the women-only record sits at 2:15:41. And given the trend line at London, the only question may be how soon, and by whom, it falls again.
