Organisers of the BMW Berlin Marathon have confirmed a formidable women's elite field for this year's race on 27 September, led by Tigst Assefa and built squarely around a renewed assault on the marathon world record. The Ethiopian returns to the fast, flat streets where she rewrote the event in 2023, joined by compatriot Amane Beriso and defending champion Rosemary Wanjiru in a line-up that promises one of the deepest women's races of the autumn.
Assefa's history in Berlin is the reason her name dominates the build-up. In 2022 she improved her personal best by almost 20 minutes to clock 2:15:37, and a year later she stunned the sport by breaking the world record in 2:11:53. That performance reshaped expectations of what was possible over the distance and turned the German capital, already a record-friendly course, into the natural stage for her next attempt.
The 29-year-old has stayed at the front of the event ever since. She took Olympic silver in the marathon at Paris 2024 and World Championship silver in 2025, and she currently holds the women-only world record, set in London in spring 2025 at 2:15:50 before she lowered it again to 2:15:41 while successfully defending her London title this spring. Returning to Berlin, she said it was a great pleasure to be back on the streets where she set her 2023 mark and that she was excited to try to break the world record once more.
The supporting cast ensures she will not be chasing the clock alone. Beriso brings major-marathon pedigree of her own, while Wanjiru returns intent on defending the title she won last year, giving the race genuine competitive tension alongside the record narrative. A strong, evenly matched front group is exactly the ingredient Berlin's pacing and course have repeatedly turned into fast times.
The women's announcement lands alongside an equally eye-catching men's plan, with marathon world record holder Sebastian Sawe set to headline the same day. With record holders on both sides of the field and a course that has produced more world records than any other, Berlin is positioning its 2026 edition as the centrepiece of the autumn season and a serious opportunity for the women-only barrier, and perhaps the outright mark, to fall again.