Tigst Assefa facts for kids

Tigst on her way to the world record at the 2023 Berlin Marathon
Quick facts for kids Personal information
Full name	Tigst Assefa Tessema
Born	(1996-12-03) 3 December 1996 (age 28) Holeta, Oromia, Ethiopia
Height	1.67 m
Sport
Country	Ethiopia
Sport	Athletics
Event(s)	Long-distance running
Coached by	Gemedu Dedefo
Achievements and titles
Highest world ranking	1st (Marathon, 2023)
Personal best(s)	800 m: 1:59.24 (Lausanne 2014) Marathon: 2:11:53 NR (Berlin 2023)
Medal record Women's athletics Representing  Ethiopia Olympic Games Silver 2024 Paris Marathon World Marathon Majors Gold 2022 Berlin Marathon Gold 2023 Berlin Marathon Silver 2024 London Marathon African Junior Championships Silver 2013 Bambous 4x400 m relay Bronze 2013 Bambous 800 m

Tigst Assefa Tessema (Amharic: ትእግስት አሰፋ; Oromo: Tigist Asaffaa Tasammaa; born on December 3, 1996) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner. She used to hold the world record for women in the marathon. Tigst has won two major races called World Marathon Majors, both in Berlin.

She started her career as an 800 meters runner. In 2018, Tigst changed to road races. She ran her first marathon in 2022. When she was 16, she won a bronze medal in the 800 meters at the 2013 African Junior Athletics Championships. The next year, she finished fourth at the senior African Championships. At 19, she ran for Ethiopia in the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Tigst ran the third-fastest women's marathon ever at the 2022 Berlin Marathon. On September 24, 2023, she broke the world record at the 2023 Berlin Marathon. Her time was 2 hours, 11 minutes, and 53 seconds. This was 2 minutes and 11 seconds faster than the old record. She was the first woman to run a marathon under 2 hours 14 minutes, 2 hours 13 minutes, and 2 hours 12 minutes. Her world record was later broken by Ruth Chepng'etich in October 2024.

Tigst's Early Running Career

Tigst (in yellow shirt) at a race in Reims, France in 2013

Tigst Assefa started running at a young age. When she was 12, she won a bronze medal in the 400 metres at the 2009 senior Ethiopian Athletics Championships. Her time was 56.70 seconds. In January 2012, she had her first international race in France. She tried the 800 metres but did not finish.

Later that year, at 15, she ran for Ethiopia in the 400 meters. This was at the senior African Championships in Porto-Novo, Benin. She set a new personal best time of 54.05 seconds in the heats. After 2012, she stopped running the 400 meters alone. She focused on the 800 meters and relay races.

Junior Achievements

In 2013, when Tigst was 16, she became the Ethiopian junior champion. She ran her best 800 meters time of 2:01.25 in Switzerland. She also won a bronze medal at the 2013 African Junior Athletics Championships in Mauritius. There, she also helped her team win a silver medal in the 4 × 400 meters relay.

The next year, she ran her fastest 800 meters ever, 1:59.24, in Switzerland. She finished fourth at the African Championships in Morocco. She also won a race in Germany and placed fourth at the 2014 IAAF Continental Cup. In 2015, she only competed in two races.

Olympic Debut

In 2016, Tigst was still 19 years old. She ran for Ethiopia in the 800 meters at two big events. These were the 2016 IAAF World Indoor Championships in the United States and the Rio Olympic Games in Brazil. She did not make it past the first rounds in either event. However, she did win a race in Japan that year.

After 2016, Tigst stopped running on the track. She had an Achilles tendon injury that made it hard to train in spikes. After two years, in November 2018, she started running on the roads. She ran a 10 km race in Dubai. The next year, she improved her 10 km time and ran her first half marathon in Spain. She finished fifth in 68 minutes and 24 seconds.

Becoming a Marathon Star

2022: A Big Leap in Marathon Running

In March 2022, Tigst ran her first full marathon. She was 25 years old. This was after a two-year break because of an injury and the COVID-19 pandemic. She finished seventh in the Riyadh Marathon in Saudi Arabia. Her time was 2 hours, 34 minutes, and 1 second. She was not in her best shape for this race.

After that, she competed in several 10 km and half marathon races. She won all of them and set new personal bests. In June, she ran a 10 km in 30:52 and a half marathon in 67:28.

In September, Tigst ran the 2022 Berlin Marathon. She set the third-fastest time ever for a woman. She finished in 2 hours, 15 minutes, and 37 seconds. This was a huge improvement of over 18 minutes from her first marathon. She ran the second half of the race faster than the first half. This is called a negative split. She won the race by more than two minutes. She also set a new record for the Berlin Marathon course and an Ethiopian record. In December, she won another half marathon in Bahrain.

2023: Breaking the World Record

On September 24, 2023, Tigst ran the 2023 Berlin Marathon again. She wore special running shoes called super shoes. She set a new world record for women with an amazing time of 2 hours, 11 minutes, and 53 seconds. She beat the old record by 2 minutes and 11 seconds. The old record was set by Brigid Kosgei in 2019.

Tigst was the first woman to run a marathon under 2 hours 14 minutes, 2 hours 13 minutes, and 2 hours 12 minutes. She ran the first half of the race very fast, in 66 minutes and 20 seconds. She ran the second half even faster, in 65 minutes and 33 seconds. This showed her incredible speed and endurance. She finished almost six minutes ahead of the second-place runner. She had help from a male pacemaker for most of the race.

This was the first time an Ethiopian woman broke the marathon world record. Her time was even faster than the old men's world record set by her countryman Abebe Bikila in 1960. He ran barefoot and won an Olympic marathon title.

2024: Olympic Silver Medal

On August 11, 2024, Tigst won a silver medal in the marathon at the Olympic Games in Paris. She finished second with a time of 2 hours, 22 minutes, and 58 seconds. She was only 3 seconds behind the winner, Sifan Hassan.

Near the end of the race, there was a moment where both runners stumbled. Hassan then passed Tigst to win the race. This was the closest finish in the history of women's Olympic marathons. The Ethiopian team protested, saying Hassan caused an obstruction, but the protest was not accepted. Tigst later said she thought she might have won gold if the incident hadn't happened.

Tigst's Achievements

Information from World Athletics profile.

Personal Best Times

International Competitions

Representing  Ethiopia

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Time
2012	African Championships	Porto-Novo, Benin	19th (sf)	400 m	55.58
			7th	4 × 400 m relay	3:41.10
2013	African Junior Championships	Réduit, Mauritius	3rd	800 m	2:05.6h
			2nd	4 × 400 m relay	3:42.2h
2014	African Championships	Marrakesh, Morocco	4th	800 m	2:00.43
	Continental Cup	Marrakesh, Morocco	4th	800 m	2:00.57
2016	World Indoor Championships	Portland, OR, United States	12th (h)	800 m i	2:04.55
	Olympic Games	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	20th (h)	800 m	2:00.21 SB
World Marathon Majors
2022	Berlin Marathon	Berlin, Germany	1st	Marathon	2:15:37 CR NR
2023	Berlin Marathon	Berlin, Germany	1st	Marathon	2:11:53 CR WR

See Also

In Spanish: Tigst Assefa para niños