Fotyen Tesfay of Ethiopia achieves the second-fastest time ever in her marathon debut

Ethiopian long-distance runner Fotyen Tesfay achieved the second-fastest marathon time in history by winning the Barcelona Marathon on Sunday, finishing with a remarkable time of two hours, 10 minutes, and 53 seconds.

In her marathon debut in Barcelona, 28-year-old Tesfay crossed the finish line significantly ahead of Jepkosgei Kiplimo, who took second place nearly eight minutes later. Zeineba Yimer secured third place. “Today was fantastic, not what I was expecting, but it is good,” Tesfay expressed through an interpreter.

I intended to challenge the world record, but today the wind was quite strong, preventing me from pushing through in the final segment of the race. Today I faced a setback, but in the next marathon, I aim to pursue the world record.

She finished 57 seconds behind Ruth Chepng’etich’s record of 2:09:56.

The Kenyan received a three-year ban in October after acknowledging violations of anti-doping rules; however, her world record will still stand as it was achieved prior to her positive test.

Abel Chelangat of Uganda triumphed in the men’s race, finishing ahead of Patrick Mosin and Jonathan Korir.