Tigist Assefa’s goal is to finish marathon in under 2 hours and ten minutes
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Tigist Assefa shattered the World Record for Women’s Marathon at the BMW Berlin Marathon when she crossed the finish line in 2:11:53. She improved it by over two minutes.
Even more astonishingly, the Ethiopian athlete, who was born and raised in the outskirts of the capital, Addis Ababa, in Sululta town, is already aiming higher and intends to break her own unprecedented record.
During an interview with BBC Amharic service, she was asked whether she expected to break the world record by such a significant margin.
“To be honest, I did not expect the record to be broken by that much. However, my training was aimed at improving the world record. My plan was to run in 2 hours and 12 or 13 minutes. That is what we agreed on with my trainer. In fact, I was in good shape, but I did not think that I would run that way,” she said.
She is the youngest in her family and has five siblings. Reflecting on her childhood in Holeta and how she got into her running career, she said it all began during a school competition at Arada Misrak School. She did not look up to someone to start running.
Her teachers saw in her a runner. “During a sports period, our sports teacher saw how I was running and advised me to start running. I started running, accepting his advice, and did well. Not long after, I joined a club and started athletics,” she told BBC Amharic.
It seems like running was in her nature. “What is amusing is that I could not walk when I was a child and was sent to the convenience store to get something. I was skinny, and I ran wherever I went…” she said.
She has been running professionally for about 13 years.
When asked if she has a plan to break her own world record, she said, “definitely, definitely.”
“Your trainer seems to think it is possible to finish [the marathon] in under 2:10. Do you agree?” She was asked. She answered, “definitely.”
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That wasn’t even close. She blew the rest of the field out of water by more than 2 minutes. She goes ‘you gals are too slow.’ She went down town shopping and when she came back everyone was still running!!! Way to go our daughter! Way to go!!! You will be the first woman to finish and win the marathon in under 02:10:00. Okay, bigots!!! You wanna bet?