World records set earlier this year by Tigist Assefa, Evan Dunfee and Massimo Stano have been ratified by World Athletics.
Olympic silver medallist Assefa achieved her women-only world marathon record at the London Marathon on 27 April. The Ethiopian clocked 2:15:50 to improve the previous world record by 26 seconds to win the World Athletics Platinum Label road race.
The previous world record of 2:16:16 had been set by Kenya’s Peres Jepchirchir in London on 21 April 2024.
“When I crossed the line, I felt extreme happiness,” said Assefa.
The performance, achieved in a women-only race, was the third-fastest marathon of Assefa’s career behind the 2:11:53 she ran to win in Berlin in 2023, a mark that at the time was a world record for a women’s marathon in a mixed race, and her 2:15:37 also from Berlin in 2022.
Assefa’s 2:11:53 remains the second-fastest women’s marathon of all time behind the 2:09:56 achieved by Ruth Chepngetich to break Assefa’s world record in Chicago in October.
“Having won today, what I am really thinking about going forward is to try and get my world record back for the marathon (in a mixed race),” Assefa added.
Canada’s Dunfee set his world 35km race walk record at the Dudince 50 – a World Athletics Race Walking Tour Gold meeting – in Dudince, Slovakia, on 22 March.
The world and Olympic bronze medallist’s time of 2:21:40 was seven seconds inside the previous world record of 2:21:47 set by Japan’s Masatora Kawano in Takahata on 27 October 2024.
“I was well under pace but then lost a little time over the last seven kilometres,” said Dunfee. “I (then) got a little stressed out, but it was a dream come true.”
Dunfee’s world record was improved by Italy’s Stano, who clocked 2:20:43 at the European Race Walking Team Championships in Podebrady, Czechia, on 18 May.
The 2021 Olympic champion took the lead at 23km then wound up the pace to win by almost three minutes, improving the world record by 57 seconds.
“The approach to the race was not to set out to break the world record, but the strategy was to close the last 20 kilometres as fast as possible,” said Stano. “That was my mission, then the world record was the consequence.”
Credit: World Athletics
