Fotyen Tesfay of Ethiopia ran the second-fastest women’s marathon in history to win the Barcelona Marathon on Sunday.
Tesfay, a 28-year-old who placed seventh in the 2024 Olympic 10,000m, clocked 2 hours, 10 minutes, 51 seconds in her debut marathon on Sunday — 55 seconds off the world record.
“Today was fantastic — not what I was expecting, but it is good,” Tesfay said through an interpreter, according to World Athletics. “My plan was to attack the world record, but today there was a lot of wind, I was not able to push in the last part of the race. Today I did not succeed, but in the next marathon I would like to try for the world record.”
The only faster women’s marathon in history was the world record 2:09:56 run by Kenyan Ruth Chepngetich to win the October 2024 Chicago Marathon.
In October 2025, Chepngetich was banned three years (backdated to April 19, 2025) after testing positive for a banned diuretic in March 2025 and admitting to doping violations.
Chepngetich’s record still stands since her positive test came five months after her run.
Tesfay previously won half marathons in Boston in 2023 and in Berlin in 2025.
She also placed second in the 2024 Valencia Half Marathon in 1:03:21, making her the third-fastest woman in history over 13.1 miles.
Fastest Women’s Marathons
| Runner | Nationality | Race | Time |
| Ruth Chepngetich | Kenya | Chicago 2024 | 2:09:56 |
| Fotyen Tesfay | Ethiopia | Barcelona 2026 | 2:10:51 |
| Tigst Assefa | Ethiopia | Berlin 2023 | 2:11:53 |
| Sifan Hassan | Netherlands | Chicago 2023 | 2:13:44 |
| Joyciline Jepkosgei | Kenya | Valencia 2025 | 2:14:00 |
