Ethiopia’s dominance on the global marathon stage was on full display at the 50th edition of the BMW Berlin Marathon, a World Athletics Platinum Label race, as Milkesa Mengesha and Tigist Ketema captured the men’s and women’s crowns respectively, leading a formidable showing by Ethiopian runners.
Held on a sunny morning in Berlin on Sunday, the marathon delivered intense competition, fast times, and personal bests for the leading athletes.
Mengesha secured the men’s title in a personal best (PB) of 2:03:17, outpacing Kenya’s Cybrian Kotut in the final moments, while Ketema solo-ran her way to victory in the women’s race, crossing the finish line in an impressive 2:16:42.
The men’s race was fiercely contested, but it was Ethiopia’s Milkesa Mengesha who emerged victorious in the final stretch.
The 23-year-old runner, who placed sixth at the World Championships marathon last year, displayed his endurance and strategy as he surged past Kenya’s Cybrian Kotut in the closing stages to win with a time of 2:03:17.
This performance marked a new personal best for Mengesha, improving by more than two minutes from his previous best, set at the Valencia Marathon in 2022. His time was also the third-fastest in the world this year.
Mengesha, part of a large leading pack early on, made his move as the race entered its decisive phase. A group of 11 runners stayed together with the pacemakers through the halfway point, hitting the 21.1-kilometer mark in 1:00:57, still on track for a sub-2:02 finish.
Among them were Kenya’s former world half marathon record-holder Kibiwott Kandie and Ethiopia’s Tadese Takele, who entered the race with the fastest personal best in the field.
As the pacemakers dropped out after the 25-kilometer mark, the lead pack began to whittle down. Kandie and Takele faded around the 35-kilometer point, leaving Mengesha, Kotut, Kenya’s Stephen Kiprop, and Ethiopia’s Haymanot Alew to battle it out for the top spots.
By 40 kilometers, Mengesha and Kotut had broken away, setting up a thrilling final sprint to the Brandenburg Gate.
Mengesha made his decisive move as the finish line came into view, leaving Kotut trailing just behind. He crossed the finish line in 2:03:17, dropping to his knees in celebration as Kotut followed closely behind in 2:03:22—both runners setting personal bests. Ethiopia’s Haymanot Alew completed the podium in third place with a time of 2:03:31, capping off a stellar day for Ethiopian distance running.
In the women’s race, Ethiopia’s Tigist Ketema was nothing short of dominant. The 26-year-old runner, who made her marathon debut in January with a 2:16:07 performance in Dubai, once again showed her prowess over the distance.
Ketema crossed the finish line in Berlin in 2:16:42, the third-fastest women’s marathon time ever recorded in the history of the Berlin Marathon.
From the very start, Ketema took control of the race. Running alongside her compatriot Azmera Gebru and a pack of men, she passed the 5-kilometer mark in 16:06 and reached 10 kilometers in 32:14. By the halfway point, which she reached in 1:07:53, Ketema had already built a 12-second lead over the rest of the field.
Her dominance only grew from there. By the 30-kilometer mark, which she crossed in 1:36:59, Ketema’s closest challengers—Ethiopia’s Mestawut Fikir, Bosena Mulatie, and Aberu Ayana—were almost two minutes behind.
Despite a late push by Fikir, Ketema was uncatchable, extending her lead to 2 minutes and 20 seconds as she approached the 40-kilometer mark. She finished with a comfortable margin, securing her second marathon victory of the year in 2:16:42.
Fikir took second place in 2:18:48, a personal best by nearly two minutes, while Bosena Mulatie rounded out the podium in 2:19:00, a massive improvement on her debut performance in Houston earlier this year, where she ran 2:26:36.
The Berlin Marathon not only showcased the individual talents of Mengesha and Ketema but also underlined Ethiopia’s remarkable depth in long-distance running.
In the women’s race, Ethiopia swept the top four positions, with Aberu Ayana finishing fourth in 2:20:20, just ahead of Japan’s Ai Hosoda, who ran a personal best of 2:20:31 for fifth place.
The men’s race also saw a strong Ethiopian showing, with Haymanot Alew taking third place and Hailemariyam Kiros finishing fifth in 2:04:35. In total, five of the top ten men’s finishers were from Ethiopia, further demonstrating the country’s dominance in the sport.
Leading results
Women
1 Tigist Ketema (ETH) 2:16:42
2 Mestawut Fikir (ETH) 2:18:48
3 Bosena Mulatie (ETH) 2:19:00
4 Aberu Ayana (ETH) 2:20:20
5 Ai Hosoda (JPN) 2:20:31
6 Mizuki Matsuda (JPN) 2:20:42
7 Calli Hauger-Thackery (GBR) 2:21:24
8 Yebregual Melese (ETH) 2:21:39
Men
1 Milkesa Mengesha (ETH) 2:03:17
2 Cybrian Kotut (KEN) 2:03:22
3 Haymanot Alew (ETH) 2:03:31
4 Stephen Kiprop (KEN) 2:03:37
5 Hailemariyam Kiros (ETH) 2:04:35
6 Yohei Ikeda (JPN) 2:05:12
7 Tadese Takele (ETH) 2:05:13
8 Oqbe Kibrom Ruesom (ERI) 2:05:37
