Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa stormed to victory in the 2025 London Marathon on Sunday, setting a new women’s-only world best time in the process.
The 28-year-old, who set the world alight with her record-breaking Berlin Marathon run in 2023, on April 27 crossed the line in 2:15:50—26 seconds inside the previous record set by Peres Jepchirchir in last year’s race.
It was Assefa’s first marathon win since Berlin and was the culmination of a focused build-up targeting this race. Speaking after her win, she said: “I was second here last year and second in the Olympics so I’m really happy to win here. After the Olympics, I prepared specifically for this race. It’s been a long build-up but it’s paid off.”
Assefa broke away from the leading pack with 5km to go, leaving Kenya’s Joyciline Jepkosgei unable to respond. Jepkosgei would go on to finish second, nearly three minutes behind, with Olympic champion Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands placing third.
The early stages saw a quartet—Assefa, Hassan, Jepkosgei, and Ethiopia’s Megertu Alemu—pull away from the rest of the field. Alemu faded at the 17km mark and eventually withdrew from the race, while Hassan struggled to maintain the early pace and was 10 seconds adrift at the halfway point.
But the day belonged to Assefa.
In the men’s race, Kenya’s Sawe claimed his first major marathon win, while Ethiopia’s Tamirat Tola, the Paris 2024 Olympic gold medallist, finished fifth. Kenyan icon and double Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge, chasing a record-extending fifth London title, had to settle for sixth.
Organisers confirmed that the 2025 edition set two new records – the number of starters, with more than 56,000 runners taking part and the number of finishers. By 18:35 p.m. on Sunday, more than 55,646 runners had crossed the finish line—surpassing the previous record set by the New York Marathon in 2023.
