A historic moment

Now it is irrevocably clear: Berlin is worth a trip. Eliud Kipchoge, the exceptional Kenyan runner, knew this for a long time and therefore decided not to run the New York Marathon. The organizers in the USA were keen to engage the fastest person in the world over this legendary distance. Kipchoge, of course, remained loyal to the run in the German capital despite quite lucrative offers. He had already won here four times, twice in world record time (2:01:09 hours). Now he won for the fifth time, once again crossing the finish line alone just behind the Brandenburg Gate. It wasn't a new world record, but his time of 2:02:42 hours is the eighth fastest mark ever run in a marathon. Two minutes later, the German Amanal Petros ended his Berlin adventure. The 2:04:48 hours meant a new German record, which he previously held. A German runner has never been so fast. Petros has now become one of the absolute world elite, although he ultimately only ended up in 9th place. But in this profession the boundaries have now shifted to a level that was considered impossible just a few years ago. This applies even more to women than to men. This year Berlin was a milestone in the history of athletics with the success of Tigist Aseffa from Ethiopia. Her winning time was 2:11:52 hours. This reads so casually now. Two hours, eleven minutes and 52 seconds for 42,195 kilometers. I don't know anyone, coaches, journalists or whoever, who ever thought this time was possible. Even among the active participants themselves, Birgid Kosgei's old world record, set in Chicago in 2019 with 2:14:04 hours, seemed to be a value for what felt like an eternity. Now Tigist Assefa pulverized him and nothing is as it once was in the marathon. There was even a phase in the race, quite late after about 30 kilometers, when the 29-year-old ran a kilometer in just over three minutes and was therefore, for a moment, just as fast as Kipchoge. I commented on the marathon with three experts for Eurosport. We all rubbed our eyes, looked at each other in disbelief and knew in that moment that we were witnessing a moment that would shape the sport forever. Only 28 men were faster It was a moment in sports history. In the end, only 28 men were faster than Assefa, who was also only competing in her third marathon in Berlin. She began her career as an 800m runner and stayed under two minutes, the sound limit for this distance, over the two stadium laps in Lausanne in 2014. Then four years later she switched to the marathon distance and improved her first time of 2:34:01 from Riyadh in March 2022 by 18 minutes when she won in Berlin last year. That caused a stir even back then. But insiders knew that she wasn't 2 percent fit for her debut. The 15:37:8.90 hours six months later revealed its unusual potential. Now she has shown her true skills in ideal weather conditions and with shoes that undoubtedly enhance performance, regardless of the manufacturer. All have built-in carbon plates or carbon pins in the raised soles. They enable greater training volumes and protect the muscles. And the new kicks give you the feeling of floating on clouds. I like to call this the trampoline effect. The new technology undoubtedly plays a significant role in the performance explosion. Assefa's winning time in Berlin is perhaps comparable to the 1968 meters that Bob Beamon once jumped at the XNUMX Olympic Games in Mexico. Back then, as now, everything was really perfect for the Ethiopian. The tailwind of two meters per second was just within the permitted range for the record to be recognized. Beamon hit the board with millimeter precision and the altitude of Mexico may have also played a part. This world record stood until 1991. Perhaps of even greater caliber are the 100m (10.49 seconds) and 200m times (21.34 seconds) of Florence Griffith Joyner (USA), which have stood for 35 years now, although the suspicion of doping that has always accompanied these achievements has never been completely dispelled. Nevertheless, these numbers are in the statistics and Tigist Assefa's Berlin value will probably remain a dream limit for a long time. A wall that many will consider insurmountable, although existing records may also be an incentive to attempt the seemingly impossible. We can therefore look forward to the next attempts and the next marathon races. Cologne, Amsterdam, New York and Valencia are arming themselves, and the focus will now increasingly be on women. That is the best side effect of the Berlin sensation. About the author: Sigi Heinrich The award-winning sports journalist, author and Eurosport commentator devotes his column “Sigi's Peaks” to the entire diversity of sport and also enjoys poaching in foreign regions. Sometimes with a smile and a wink, sometimes seriously or deliberately provocative. There should be something for everyone.

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A historic moment

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